Wasted Days and Wasted Nights

Cruising from Hawaii, we watched the coastline disappear through tear-filled eyes.

All that lay ahead would be five wasted days and wasted nights...make that six if you count Ensenada, thanks to the Jones Act that requires non-US flagged cruise ships to call on at least one foreign port.

We were a ship of fools, doomed to drift in a sea of disappointment and disillusionment, not unlike the Democrat and Republican Parties.

After all, what could we possibly do on a ship, miles from cable television, free wifi and WalMart?

We could only hope that we might subsist on chocolate covered macadamia nuts squirreled away in Honolulu and Techincolor...make that IMAX...memories of days in paradise that passed too quickly.

And yet, had we not soldiered on, despite creature-comfort deprivations in these same spartan environs en route to Hawaii?

"Buck up!" I commanded Julie.  "We can do this."

"I shall try, my liege," Julie simpered.

And so we did.

Oh yes, we did.

Did you realize they have food on cruise ships?

And I'm not talking hard bread and water, supplemented by a daily clump of salt, ration of rum and slice of lime (we don't want to get scurvy).

The galley staff actually managed to stretch a few provisions into some delightful meals.  It turns out they can turn whole wheat flour into delicious bread and pastries, brought to our tables to begin every meal in the dining room, followed by course after course of sumptuous treats also made from scratch from a surprising variety of provisions beyond just flour.

There are also events like pub lunches, tea times and wine tastings as well as complimentary pastries, pizzas, ice cream and other snacks, if we got a bit peckish between feasts, which we apparently did.

While we couldn't do endless internet searches into Kardashian family foibles or watch twin brothers or couples overcome disasters to remodel houses for strangers, we did have "Love Boat" re-runs and Fox News, if we felt compelled to lay in bed all day watching the tube.  Surprisingly, we didn't.

As someone who loves movies, I happily went to at least one movie every sea day, either in the Princess Theater or by the pool where "Movies Under the Stars" showed a movies three times a day.

I think Julie and I attended a movie theater only once in 2014, so this was a welcome opportunity to catch up on Oscar-honored performances in movies like "Whiplash" (tense), "The Judge" (very good) and "Birdman" (universally trashed by anyone on board who saw it, which fortunately did not include me, although it turns out that it wasn't actually "Birdman" that I'd seen) as well as popular favorites "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part I" (yes, like a teen-aged girl, I had been eagerly anticipating this movie and enjoyed it, though not as much as the first two in the series) and "Begin Again" (great flick!), as well as some obscure movies that turned out to be quite good, like "The Hundred Foot Journey."

For daylight Movies Under the Stars, the offerings were old and very old favorites, like "Top Gun" and "The Philadelphia Story," which was just as well, because we could still follow the stories despite occasional loud conversations by inconsiderate people oblivious to the movie on the gigantic screen.

The terrific live entertainment continued all the way back, with some new Showtime performers brought onboard to keep it fresh, and we re-learned dance steps at daily ballroom classes.

Between meals, movies and entertainment, we managed to find time to read some good books.

And there is also something quite relaxing about looking out at the vast ocean. 

Yes, cruising itself can be quite enjoyable if you put yourself in the right mindset.

In fact, while we did get off the ship in Ensenada to walk through the almost deserted Malarcon and then buy a leather purse ($15 versus probably $100 in NYC) in the downtown area, we were soon back on board lounging under the sun.  From a distance, Ensenada looks almost like an intriguing Mediterranean port, and before we had left this cruise, we felt the tug of other ports of call in distant lands, and also more leisurely days at sea.