Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea

ms Amsterdam
January 18, 2013

It's 9:30 am EST (we haven't changed time zones yet) and we are sailing along at 18.4
knots, about a third of the way to Easter Island; 1300+ nautical miles to go. No wonder
people thought the world was flat. All you can see is a straight blue line of the ocean
on the horizon. The seas are quite calm. The ship moves a little bit but it's like flying in
a jet; unless you're looking out a window you really can't tell which way you're going or
even IF you're moving forward. That is my excuse for consistently heading the wrong
direction when I'm going from place to place onboard. I'd mark my trail but someone
would be right behind me vacuuming, washing or scrubbing. They must go through
vats of cleaning products. You can't go ten feet without someone squirting Purel in your
palms. Keeping everyone healthy is of primary concern. No one wants to be sleeping
with the roses!

We went to a special dinner at one of the smaller restaurants last night, a recreation of
Le Cirque in NYC. They use the same china and silverware and linens as well as the
same menu. Suddenly it's 1970 and you're scanning the room for Henry Kissinger or
Barbara Walters or Jackie O. The pre-cholesterol-awareness food was delicious -- do
you even remember the last time you saw Chateaubriand on a menu let alone ordered
it? When we returned to our cabin we found a little wooden box embossed with the Le
Cirque logo containing a selection of truffles "as a last Le Cirque indulgence" before
bedtime. Gilding the lily!

In case one should feel a bit peckish after lunch and before cocktails today's High Tea
between three and four this afternoon is a Cupcake Tea. There are some teenagers on
board, all boys, so I'm sure they'll be willing to throw on a collared shirt and some shoes
for a cupcake or two. There's home schooling and then there's home schooling!

They're tweaking the satellite again, so no internet for a while. Although, once again
the personnel in charge of booking future cruises ALways can get a signal. We have
TV reception in the stateroom and so far the most consistent station received is Fox
News! CNN International comes and goes. Ditto ESPN International. There are a few
closed circuit channels so you can watch lectures and programs in your stateroom and
a camera on the bridge that streams the view ahead of us. There is also an information
page that tells our position, course, speed, wind direction, sea depth, distance from
the last port and to the next port as well as total nautical miles traveled so far. It's the
shipboard version of the Weather Channel.