Day 03 2/13 - Cruise Life, Pineo-Jensen Style
On Day Three, I woke up in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, southward bound.
I was feeling better. I had ordered room service breakfast, mainly to get tea, but also because I had an early spa appointment and was not sure how quick the service might be for breakfast in the Main Dining Room. A gift from my children, I was scheduled to have a ELEMIS Pro-Collagen Age Defy Facial at 9:15 AM.
The breakfast arrived with one missing item – the hot water for the tea. By the time I noticed, the delivery person was way down the hall and my calling to him did not get his attention. I called room service to tell them about the missing hot water, but it did not show up before I had to leave for my appointment.
Therefore, I went up the fore elevator to the ninth level, which pops right out by the Windjammer (buffet) and fixed some tea. I carried that as I walked past the giant pool and hot tubs and bathing suit clad lay-abouts, past the aft elevators, past the Solarium with the adult (small) pool and well-used hot tubs, and past the Park Café (open 24/7), arriving at the Spa on time with a nice cuppa.
The facial was wonderful. It soothed and refreshed me and my face looked a lot better. The esthetician was a beautiful and pleasing person who advised that I come back for an “oxygen” treatment and gave me a recommendation for purchasing hundreds of dollars’ worth of beauty products. It was all very appealing, but my esteemed patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, I mean the elder of my two daughters, suggested that I get a pedicure instead. So I scheduled a pedicure.
Interestingly, at least to me, is that I did not call Mike but for the one time (more on that later) because I was trying out life alone, and our text communications were short, but texting Rocky was not an interference with my “independent living” notion. She is my travel consultant and life coach in shopping decisions. She also funds all kinds of fun things. I must have a been a good mother, eh? And still am?
The breakfast arrived with one missing item – the hot water for the tea. By the time I noticed, the delivery person was way down the hall and my calling to him did not get his attention. I called room service to tell them about the missing hot water, but it did not show up before I had to leave for my appointment.
Therefore, I went up the fore elevator to the ninth level, which pops right out by the Windjammer (buffet) and fixed some tea. I carried that as I walked past the giant pool and hot tubs and bathing suit clad lay-abouts, past the aft elevators, past the Solarium with the adult (small) pool and well-used hot tubs, and past the Park Café (open 24/7), arriving at the Spa on time with a nice cuppa.
The facial was wonderful. It soothed and refreshed me and my face looked a lot better. The esthetician was a beautiful and pleasing person who advised that I come back for an “oxygen” treatment and gave me a recommendation for purchasing hundreds of dollars’ worth of beauty products. It was all very appealing, but my esteemed patroness, Lady Catherine de Bourgh, I mean the elder of my two daughters, suggested that I get a pedicure instead. So I scheduled a pedicure.
Interestingly, at least to me, is that I did not call Mike but for the one time (more on that later) because I was trying out life alone, and our text communications were short, but texting Rocky was not an interference with my “independent living” notion. She is my travel consultant and life coach in shopping decisions. She also funds all kinds of fun things. I must have a been a good mother, eh? And still am?
I had lugged my swimsuit and pool shoes to the spa appointment and changed in their dressing room. When I got to the Solarium pool, I found an unoccupied chaise and put my bags there. A man came up and said that the clips on the back of the chair meant that someone was using it, but that the person was in violation of the 30 minute rule. I had read about it, but I had no idea how it worked. The point is that you can’t just hog a chair all day, you have use it. If you abandon it, someone, like this man, can go to the pool attendant and set a timer and after 30 minutes, the pool attendant takes away their stuff and gives the chaise lounge to you.
I said something to the man about not taking the chair he was pre-reserving, and he said no, that it was okay. So I got in the spa, and so did he. In a while, a woman came over to the chairs and she started yelling about how those were her chairs and that stuff (my stuff) should not be there. I yelled over from the nearby spa that those were my things and she said something rude (the background noise made it impossible to understand what she was saying but she was very loud and her tone was aggressively hostile) and then she picked up my stuff and dumped it on the ground!
The guy was already heading over there and I quickly followed. He was explaining to her that she lost possession of the chairs. She was full-on Karen, taking no prisoners. I picked up my stuff and said goodbye to the man; he suggested that I should not leave, that it would be worked out, but I told him that when the universe gives me a message, I take heed. The woman was still talking in a loud belligerent voice about how those were HER chairs. I got in one shot – I told her she should talk to the towel police and they would adjudicate her rights. She had no ears. She was all mouth.
As I walked away towards the elevators and my room, a couple security guards were coming into the Solarium. I gave them a heads up about the brouhaha and they were very interested and walked quickly in that direction. I didn’t stick around to find out how Karen’s day went from there, but I knew she was in the wrong. Her chair clips were gone.
I took the aft elevator down to four, my room level, and walked inside to my room. I liked the view out the starboard windows so I took some photos.
I said something to the man about not taking the chair he was pre-reserving, and he said no, that it was okay. So I got in the spa, and so did he. In a while, a woman came over to the chairs and she started yelling about how those were her chairs and that stuff (my stuff) should not be there. I yelled over from the nearby spa that those were my things and she said something rude (the background noise made it impossible to understand what she was saying but she was very loud and her tone was aggressively hostile) and then she picked up my stuff and dumped it on the ground!
The guy was already heading over there and I quickly followed. He was explaining to her that she lost possession of the chairs. She was full-on Karen, taking no prisoners. I picked up my stuff and said goodbye to the man; he suggested that I should not leave, that it would be worked out, but I told him that when the universe gives me a message, I take heed. The woman was still talking in a loud belligerent voice about how those were HER chairs. I got in one shot – I told her she should talk to the towel police and they would adjudicate her rights. She had no ears. She was all mouth.
As I walked away towards the elevators and my room, a couple security guards were coming into the Solarium. I gave them a heads up about the brouhaha and they were very interested and walked quickly in that direction. I didn’t stick around to find out how Karen’s day went from there, but I knew she was in the wrong. Her chair clips were gone.
I took the aft elevator down to four, my room level, and walked inside to my room. I liked the view out the starboard windows so I took some photos.
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I showered and then I had a nice lunch with an ocean view.
Then I rested in my room, messing up my freshly made bed to get comfy while I read some of The Saturdays, the first book in the Melendy series by Elizabeth Enright.
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After a fun dinner with my amusing table mates, I cruised the show in the Orpheum Theater, but it didn’t speak to me.
I stopped to look at a beautiful purse in one of the on-board shops. I wanted to take a photo and the salesman arranged it to show off the handle. They had other beautiful, beaded bags and I admired each and every one of them.
I have a theory about selling retail, tested by my hundreds or thousands of hours selling retail at swap meets and art festivals. (Handmade leather belts, purses, wallets, key fobs, and such, in case you were wondering. It’s a whole ‘nother story.) So my schema is that if you don’t have any customers, people are reluctant to come into your shop for fear that you will pressure them to buy something. So ideally, you, the seller, HAVE a customer so they can just slip in and look around and then act annoyed if you don’t pay attention to them right away.
So if I am chatting with a vendor with no intention of buying, I explain to them that it helps to have a “fake customer” and I AM that fake customer and they ALWAYS get it. So I was being the fake customer for this sweet young thing, about 24 I guess, and it came up that I used to be a teacher and he said that he had not achieved his life’s ambition of being a lecturer. That caught my interest and I interrogated him about his area of study, his current interest, and encouraged him to get on track to achieve his goal. I think he did not have family support or there had been some kind of family crisis; I didn’t focus on that. I focused on him articulating what he wanted, which was to go back to school and develop some ideas about computers that would serve the common good.
He was excited. His eyes were shining. I told him how to create a vision board and how to visualize the blue wave every morning when you make the bed.
This conversation actually took several visits to complete, because if an actual customer came in, I left at once, saying “I’ll be back soon to look at those purses some more.” We went through the content, my message of hope and personal power and achievement of personal goals. He was delighted. It was very encouraging. He said that no one had ever encouraged him like that. He certainly seemed intelligent enough to manage to go to school and get a degree. So that was very fun for me. Old crone wisdom bringing value to a young person’s life!
I stopped to look at a beautiful purse in one of the on-board shops. I wanted to take a photo and the salesman arranged it to show off the handle. They had other beautiful, beaded bags and I admired each and every one of them.
I have a theory about selling retail, tested by my hundreds or thousands of hours selling retail at swap meets and art festivals. (Handmade leather belts, purses, wallets, key fobs, and such, in case you were wondering. It’s a whole ‘nother story.) So my schema is that if you don’t have any customers, people are reluctant to come into your shop for fear that you will pressure them to buy something. So ideally, you, the seller, HAVE a customer so they can just slip in and look around and then act annoyed if you don’t pay attention to them right away.
So if I am chatting with a vendor with no intention of buying, I explain to them that it helps to have a “fake customer” and I AM that fake customer and they ALWAYS get it. So I was being the fake customer for this sweet young thing, about 24 I guess, and it came up that I used to be a teacher and he said that he had not achieved his life’s ambition of being a lecturer. That caught my interest and I interrogated him about his area of study, his current interest, and encouraged him to get on track to achieve his goal. I think he did not have family support or there had been some kind of family crisis; I didn’t focus on that. I focused on him articulating what he wanted, which was to go back to school and develop some ideas about computers that would serve the common good.
He was excited. His eyes were shining. I told him how to create a vision board and how to visualize the blue wave every morning when you make the bed.
This conversation actually took several visits to complete, because if an actual customer came in, I left at once, saying “I’ll be back soon to look at those purses some more.” We went through the content, my message of hope and personal power and achievement of personal goals. He was delighted. It was very encouraging. He said that no one had ever encouraged him like that. He certainly seemed intelligent enough to manage to go to school and get a degree. So that was very fun for me. Old crone wisdom bringing value to a young person’s life!
I swung by the LGBTQIA+ Meetup in the Bolero Lounge and chatted with a nice gay couple. I had ice water with lime.
Then I went to karaoke, carrying my pseudo-drink, alone, stone cold sober, and sang Dream Lover, accomplishing a life goal while not making a fool of myself. Good times.
I had been thinking about this cruise since 2017 and actively planning it for nine months. I knew I wanted to sing karaoke again – I had so much fun with that on the cruise with the younger of my two daughters. I wanted to sing songs that are in my range so I worked out a song list. I even printed out the lyrics for a few and practiced them a bit. I’m really good at Midnight Tango – it’s like one note. LOL. But sadly, none of the songs I was prepared to sing were in the binders with literally thousands of songs.
So I had to just try to think of songs that I thought I could sing and see if they were in the book. Mike sings Dream Lover (Ricky Nelson style) and they had it in the book, Bobby Darrin style. The audience started clapping, while I was singing, I swear to gawd. I knew I was singing on key and not wavering and just loving that song. I got a more than the usual hearty response. It made me want to sing more . . . So it turns out that was the highpoint of my several karaoke performances. Oh vanity, thy name is a karaoke microphone.
Then I went to karaoke, carrying my pseudo-drink, alone, stone cold sober, and sang Dream Lover, accomplishing a life goal while not making a fool of myself. Good times.
I had been thinking about this cruise since 2017 and actively planning it for nine months. I knew I wanted to sing karaoke again – I had so much fun with that on the cruise with the younger of my two daughters. I wanted to sing songs that are in my range so I worked out a song list. I even printed out the lyrics for a few and practiced them a bit. I’m really good at Midnight Tango – it’s like one note. LOL. But sadly, none of the songs I was prepared to sing were in the binders with literally thousands of songs.
So I had to just try to think of songs that I thought I could sing and see if they were in the book. Mike sings Dream Lover (Ricky Nelson style) and they had it in the book, Bobby Darrin style. The audience started clapping, while I was singing, I swear to gawd. I knew I was singing on key and not wavering and just loving that song. I got a more than the usual hearty response. It made me want to sing more . . . So it turns out that was the highpoint of my several karaoke performances. Oh vanity, thy name is a karaoke microphone.
I came back to my room and someone had magically left chocolate covered strawberries. This was unexpected and curious. Those are the kind of treats that people at the suite level get, not people at my room status. What an delicious gift!
