Day One – There had been a plan. It was a good plan. The child would go to school until about noon, then I would pick her up and we’d be off. That would give me time to pack, take care of the cat, and lock everything up, and keep her occupied in the morning, since the ship wasn’t scheduled to sail until 5:30 in the evening. However, the child begged and pleaded, so I relented and let her stay home from school. This meant every 15, then 10, then 5 minutes there would be a request to leave for the port. It’s the at-home version of “Are we there yet?” Still, we were both excited and who could blame us? Our first cruise! So, at noon we left for lunch and the drive down to Long Beach.
Now Long Beach sets your cruise expectations very high, for sitting in the Port of Long Beach is the grand dowager of cruise ships: The Queen Mary, in all her Art Deco splendor. Just looking at the QM reminds me of when travel wasn’t about getting from Point A to Point B for the least money in the quickest time. There was a time when travel was exciting, glamorous, and the journey as meaningful as the destination. The QM, long-past her time of being seaworthy is a hotel now, but you can visit her and see pictures of movie stars, millionaires, and Winston Churchill aboard back in her glory days, and dream about what it must have been like. Would our ship, Paradise, possibly live up to such expectations? Or would it be the Southwest Airlines version of a cruise, a floating cattle car with all the personality of a Motel 6?
Before we’d find out the answer we had to get on board, in the usual post-9/11 fashion…long lines and a security guard ransacking your luggage to make sure the two bottles of water you had packed for your day wandering through Ensenada, were really just water bottles contain just water. The good news was we got to keep our shoes on. But after security, a quick check of our American citizenship, and arrangements for our Sail-And-Sign Card (a combination boarding pass & credit card) we were a quick escalator ride from the gangway, crossing the pier our gleaming white floating hotel and home for the next few days.
Dear Readers, Paradise delivered from her first moments. Boarding, we found ourselves in the central atrium – apparently Deco splendor is the optimal cruise ship décor, and the designers and builders of Paradise, built in 1998, understood this and saw no reason to depart from proven success. A bar surrounds a platform topped by a white grand piano offering classical music while people sorted out which direction to their stateroom. And, if I might take a little credit it here, as well as thank those who had offered their suggestions and recommendations, Mother picked out an ideal stateroom, ocean view, toward the back but still very much midship, and not far from this atrium. The child was immediately pleased. And so, very soon, we were unpacked and situated in our stateroom, and ready to have an explore of the place. We wandered up and Aft first arriving quickly at the pool on Lido Deck, which almost immediately gained the nickname “The Drunk Tank,” because of the large number of happily inebriated people who seemed to live there. Here, I was able to acquaint myself with “The Fun Ship Special” the bon voyage drink of the day – rum, vodka, apricot brandy, and just enough fruit punch to make it all go down smoothly, served in a tall, curvaceous glass with a spear of tropical fruit and a little paper umbrella. After a stroll around Lido Deck, we dropped down one to Promenade Deck, with an assortment of casinos, bars, lounges, and Café Ile de France, the ship’s version of Starbucks. This place became part of the daily routine for us, usually for an after-dinner mocha and some chocolate-covered strawberries or a slice of cake. Wandering the Promenade Deck was one of the child’s favorite activities, not because she’s partial to gambling, and not only for the confections, but because here was people-watching central in luxurious surroundings with an ocean view. Speaking of which, it was soon time to cast off.
Now, this is the post-9-11 world, so all those romantic images of people tossing confetti and serpentines off the side of the ship showering it down on throngs of well-wishers waving from the pier – forget all that. Doesn’t happen. Well-wishers have to be left behind before you enter security and get nowhere near the ship. Such are the sacrifices we make to create the illusion that we are safe. However, from our vantage point back on Lido Deck Aft, we could see the churning water indicating the ships engines were engaged, watch as we slowly moved away from the pier and, like that breathless moment on an airplane (the one the airlines have not yet found a way to charge you for or deprive you of) when the engines whine, gravity pushes you back in your seat, you hold you breath and wait for that moment when the wheels of the landing gear break free of terra firma and you realize your flying, here is the moment when you have broken your bond to dry land and are floating off into the vastness of the Pacific. It’s a brief moment, but there’s a freedom to it that always gives me a thrill that I am happy to now be sharing with my daughter. Travel isn’t about Point A to Point B; it’s about breaking free and creating your own journey. So Long Beach receded into the distance and anything became possible.
Now Long Beach sets your cruise expectations very high, for sitting in the Port of Long Beach is the grand dowager of cruise ships: The Queen Mary, in all her Art Deco splendor. Just looking at the QM reminds me of when travel wasn’t about getting from Point A to Point B for the least money in the quickest time. There was a time when travel was exciting, glamorous, and the journey as meaningful as the destination. The QM, long-past her time of being seaworthy is a hotel now, but you can visit her and see pictures of movie stars, millionaires, and Winston Churchill aboard back in her glory days, and dream about what it must have been like. Would our ship, Paradise, possibly live up to such expectations? Or would it be the Southwest Airlines version of a cruise, a floating cattle car with all the personality of a Motel 6?
Before we’d find out the answer we had to get on board, in the usual post-9/11 fashion…long lines and a security guard ransacking your luggage to make sure the two bottles of water you had packed for your day wandering through Ensenada, were really just water bottles contain just water. The good news was we got to keep our shoes on. But after security, a quick check of our American citizenship, and arrangements for our Sail-And-Sign Card (a combination boarding pass & credit card) we were a quick escalator ride from the gangway, crossing the pier our gleaming white floating hotel and home for the next few days.
Dear Readers, Paradise delivered from her first moments. Boarding, we found ourselves in the central atrium – apparently Deco splendor is the optimal cruise ship décor, and the designers and builders of Paradise, built in 1998, understood this and saw no reason to depart from proven success. A bar surrounds a platform topped by a white grand piano offering classical music while people sorted out which direction to their stateroom. And, if I might take a little credit it here, as well as thank those who had offered their suggestions and recommendations, Mother picked out an ideal stateroom, ocean view, toward the back but still very much midship, and not far from this atrium. The child was immediately pleased. And so, very soon, we were unpacked and situated in our stateroom, and ready to have an explore of the place. We wandered up and Aft first arriving quickly at the pool on Lido Deck, which almost immediately gained the nickname “The Drunk Tank,” because of the large number of happily inebriated people who seemed to live there. Here, I was able to acquaint myself with “The Fun Ship Special” the bon voyage drink of the day – rum, vodka, apricot brandy, and just enough fruit punch to make it all go down smoothly, served in a tall, curvaceous glass with a spear of tropical fruit and a little paper umbrella. After a stroll around Lido Deck, we dropped down one to Promenade Deck, with an assortment of casinos, bars, lounges, and Café Ile de France, the ship’s version of Starbucks. This place became part of the daily routine for us, usually for an after-dinner mocha and some chocolate-covered strawberries or a slice of cake. Wandering the Promenade Deck was one of the child’s favorite activities, not because she’s partial to gambling, and not only for the confections, but because here was people-watching central in luxurious surroundings with an ocean view. Speaking of which, it was soon time to cast off.
Now, this is the post-9-11 world, so all those romantic images of people tossing confetti and serpentines off the side of the ship showering it down on throngs of well-wishers waving from the pier – forget all that. Doesn’t happen. Well-wishers have to be left behind before you enter security and get nowhere near the ship. Such are the sacrifices we make to create the illusion that we are safe. However, from our vantage point back on Lido Deck Aft, we could see the churning water indicating the ships engines were engaged, watch as we slowly moved away from the pier and, like that breathless moment on an airplane (the one the airlines have not yet found a way to charge you for or deprive you of) when the engines whine, gravity pushes you back in your seat, you hold you breath and wait for that moment when the wheels of the landing gear break free of terra firma and you realize your flying, here is the moment when you have broken your bond to dry land and are floating off into the vastness of the Pacific. It’s a brief moment, but there’s a freedom to it that always gives me a thrill that I am happy to now be sharing with my daughter. Travel isn’t about Point A to Point B; it’s about breaking free and creating your own journey. So Long Beach receded into the distance and anything became possible.
5 comments:
Cruising is my ideal veg out vacation from work. No cooking, no cleaning. Heck, you don't even have to make your own bed. Just roll out of bed and decide where to eat!
Anxiously awaiting Pt. II.
I'm guessing my invitation was just lost in the mail?
I won't cry! I WON'T CRY!
I love the way you describe everything. Makes me want to take a cruise.
Just so you know, Anonymous was me.
Thanks everyone! I promise I'll get Pt. II posted Monday. Friday at work was crazy busy and I didn't get the chance to forward the text to the home computer.
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