23 october 2011 (sunday) allure of the seas day 15...

23 October 2011 (Sunday)

ALLURE OF THE SEASDAY 15 (8) — RETURN HOME© Darry D Eggleston, http://DarryD.com1

Names inside single quotes (‘’) are aliases.

Today, I learned from:( 1st Debarkation: 06:30( Alligator Alley( Ask God & Congratulate( Breakfast: 07:00( Home: 13:25( Last Call( Name Tag PegEgg( Passengers’ Home Country( Pickup: 08:30( Problems in Rearview Mirror

( Restoring the CP( Satisfied Enough( Satisfied Mind( Saying Silly Things( Scatter Kindness( Take Me Home( Try to See Invisible( Unload: 08:50( We Cruise( We Disembark: 08:00

03:00 — TAKE ME HOMEJohn Denver singing “Country Roads” [ http://bit.ly/bO2THc ] awakens

me and I’m going home.The last day of the cruise and the

first day of a new adventure, I’m tooexcited to sleep.

Memories of our girls (Daisy-Dawg, HoneyBear, and Queen Belle),our friends, and my email connectiondance along old country roads and skimalong the foam that is outside our cur-rent in the seas that we ply.

The lights of Fort Lauderdale are

These are reflections designed to be re-read when I am too old to journey from the comfort of my stead and,1

so that in my bed, I can relive the days gone by. Permission for reproduction in whole or in part is granted to groups andorganizations for internal, non-profit use provided credit is given to the author along with the copyright notice: Articlereprinted with permission. Copyright © 2011 Darry D Eggleston, http://DarryD.com.

For more tips, visit http://DarryD.com of 9

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DARRY D’S JOURNAL 23 OCTOBER 2011 (SUNDAY)

in the distance, and we’ll be docked very, very soon — but not soon enough.As much as I enjoy cruising, I enjoy returning to the safe haven of our

home.

The cabin looks barren.The closet is bare, the extra suit-

cases are gone, and all that remains isthe luggage that we’re carrying off theship — including this old friend, mylaptop.

Loaded with new memories andawaiting the addition of new ones, it’sglaring, white lighted screen has beenmy morning companion these past 15days.

It will be days before I can share them with my friends because I’vebeen living far too fast to include the photos that I want included so that mymemories ages from now can be rekindled with the fires and the desires thatbegan every morning on this engineering marvel called the Allure of the Seas.

She’s the largest cruise ship in the world (by 6 meters) and rides proudlyupon the waves she plows.

There is no swaying that one might expect on a normal ship. Betweenher girth, the stabilizers, and the smoother-than-a-politician engines, this isone quiet, perfectly balanced work of art.

It’s comforting that two different waiters shared their experience on thisship coming from Finland to the U.S.

With the ship slicing through and being hit by 80-foot waves, none of thecrew was the least bit frightened. The Captain kept them informed at about15 minute intervals. Since he’s from Argentina, he broadcast in both Englishand then in Spanish.

Of course, the entire crew was hand-picked from among all the officers,waiters, and room stewards in the Royal Caribbean International (RCI) cruiseline.

When you’re the best of the best, you have respect for The Lady, asthey called the ship, which is carrying you into your newest future.


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05:55 — LAST CALLPegEgg awakens 5 minutes earlier than the alarm is scheduled to ring.She, too, is excited about returning to our simple little life in Tampa Bay,

Florida.I’ve already showed so she can rush in and take her shower.A few minutes of scurry and the worry of begin ready to disembark will

be history. We packed all but the few remaining toiletries last night.Of course, I’ll be closing down this laptop within minutes and making

notes in my pocket notebook for the remainder of the day. I’m carrying herand PegEgg is carrying Gizmo, her mini-laptop.

07:00 — BREAKFAST IN ADAGIOA lady team leader who approached me on

the first day because of my name tag and greetedme every day after, offers to watch our luggage sowe don’t have to drag it into the Adagio DiningRoom.

I accept gladly. I would call her by name, buther name tag is so small and contains 9-point fontso I’ve never been able to read it.

For reasons known only to the ‘suits’ at cor-porate headquarters, the largest thing on their nametag is the name of the corporation. It bothers methat they believe that people on one of their shipsmust be reminded that they are on a ship.

The wearer’s full name is listed. No matterthat most cannot — and will not even try to — pro-nounce the last names, they are listed.

We are seated at Table 404, near the entrydoor. Richard has parked his scooter outside the entry and is sitting with us.

Albert, our waiter, goes through the rituals of telling what is availableand taking orders as if there is urgency, but not a rush. He confirms whateach has ordered to ensure his hearing & interpretation was correct.

With 80 head waiters, 250 waiters, and 175 assistant waiters, theAdagio Dining Room is abuzz — as it is for every meal. The added challenge

PASSENGERSAustralia — 5Canada — 12

Egypt — 2France — 42

Germany — 72Great Britain — 0

Italy — 20Portugal — 287

Spain — 288Switzerland — 10

USA — 3,855TOTAL: 5,801

* Not all pax listed.


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of circumnavigating around the luggage parked at or near every table isexpected and accepted by the staff who, like ballerinas, dance around themon their way to fulfilling every request from the guests.

Workers from 34 different coun-tries, speaking uncounted varied langu-ages, toil without sweating and servewithout grumbling.

Among the cruisers, the loudestare the Americans. An embarrassmentto their nation, their community, andtheir fellow passengers, some actuallybelieve their butt is the center of theuniverse.

The Asians are courteous to a fault. Patient, ever smiling, and travelingin family clusters, they move as if invisible. Most carry smartphones, iPads,and iPods, but none are visible unless they are needed — and they are notneeded or used in gatherings, only in the solace of quiet time away from themaddening crowds.

The Europeans are hurried. They believe that “if it can go wrong, it will.”They are awaiting only the signal to begin the run & they’ll be gone.

We discuss the quirks of this ship’s operation. Given its immensity and the number of offerings, it’s not to be unex-

pected that some things are not as we think they should be.The Windjammer did not open this morning until 6 AM. That’s a problem

because so many have been awake since 4 AM. With no place to get coffeeor hot tea, that’s a lot of ‘unguided missiles’ left wandering.

The Promenade Café, which is normally open 24/7, closed this morningat 02:00 AM.

During the cruises, iced tea is only available in the Windjammer on Deck15.

The Pizza place, on the promenade, offers only cold water (free) orsoda or alcohol (additional cost). It has limited hours, but I never noted them.

The Promenade Café offers only hot tea and hot coffee, and cold water.Of course, it offers sandwiches and cookies 24/7 — except this morning.


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06:30 — 1ST DEBARKATIONWhile we’re eating, it’s announced that anyone who wishes to disem-

bark can now do so (or they can wait for their colored luggage tags to be cal-led).

07:50 — TAGS 1–7 CALLEDTags 1–7 and express debarkation have been called.

08:00 — WE DISEMBARKPegEgg, Richard, Cristal, & I disembark.The officers checking our keypass call to us by name. (The name tags

continue to bring rewards.)We’re down the ramp, into an elevator, and down to the first floor where

our 5 large suitcases await us. Within seconds, a porter calls out

to PegEgg — by name — and offers tocarry our bags. Her 3"x5" name tag canbe seen — and read — from about 25feet away.

A 55+ year old, he’s working be-cause he’s got his daughter and her 3kids living with his wife and him. Hisdaughter’s husband lost his job & justdisappeared. The husband left one morning & never came back.

If you’re not alert, the visible clues are unseenuntil it’s far to late to deal with them in a proactivemanner.

Trust me, loading our 5 large suitcases ontoa single dolly is no easy task. Moving it, eventhough it’s on wheels, is a major struggle; but, Johnhas a family to provide for.

John maneuvered the dolly through thecrowds, through Customs, across the traffic-filled street, and behind the vanwhat sports the “Ace Tours” sign. (It’s the transport to the motel.)


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His girth and the weight of the luggage conflict, but he’s committed andsmiled throughout the journey.

John would prefer to have a better paying, less stressful job, but he’sgrateful for this minimum wage, but well-tipped job.

Although the custom is to give $1-per-bag, I gave him $10. Trust me: He earned it.

08:30 — PICKUPOur luggage is loaded and we enter the full-sized van.George calls his headquarters and reported: “I’ve picked up 2 passen-

gers, but I have no more room for luggage.”The faceless voice responds, “Take them to Homewood Suites.”“Roger,” he replies, winks at PegEgg who’s seated in the passenger

seat, and puts the transmission into gear. He knows that without space toplace luggage, he’s got to unload us before loading any more passengers.

George drove a limousine for 15 years, but fewer and fewer people arerenting limos, so he switched to this company. Driving back and forth to theairport and to the port is challenging, but the tips make this minimum wage jobpay off.

08:50 — UNLOAD AT HOMEWOOD SUITESRather than drop us at the door of the motel, George drove to the rear

of our truck. Then he proceeded to load the luggage into the back.Remarking on how heavy our luggage was, he kept that I-will-please-

you smile throughout the efforts.PegEgg slipped him a $10 and thanked him.

08:55 — CRISTAL & RICHARD APPEARA van drops off Cristal & Richard at their car.The hardest part was getting Richard’s scooter onto the scooter carrier

on the rear of the car. After he smoked a cigarette, he instructed Cristal as tohow to attach it to the car.


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09:20 — ON THE ROAD AGAINWith 36,735 miles on the odome-

ter, 72 degree temperature, under thesunny skies, we’re off for home.

09:28 — ALLIGATOR ALLEYWe entered the “Florida Turnpike

Plaza AllEye” and paid $2.50 for thetoll. The 6 lane highway has about 25cars going our way. Of course, duringthe week, such is not the case.

10:15 — REST STOP 1Alligator Alley Rest Area

11:00 — REST STOP 2Hess Station

12:00 — REST STOP 3Punta Gorda, Florida, Rest Area

13:25 — HOMEWith 36,981 miles on the odometer, 74 degree weather, and crystal

clear blue, Florida skies, we pulled into our driveway.We can hears the puppies (DaisyDawg & HoneyBear) barking in quiz-

zical tones at hearing the purring engine of the Blue Max truck in the drive-way. It’s been 2.5 weeks and they were beginning to give up on ever seeingus again.

Queen Belle rests on her stomach in the front flower bed, paws tuckedunder her breast, and observes our movements. We call, but she ignores us.

She’s in her “stealth mode” so we must pretend that we do not see thismonster cat protecting her domain. She will acknowledge us when she’sready — and not one moment earlier.


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She’ll come in, purr: “What’s for supper?”, and expect to be fed imme-diately — if not sooner.

As we enter the front door, the puppies go ballistic!DaisyDawg is barking between leaps waist-high and running circles

around our feet. One learns to shuffle — not step — when the DaisyDawg isin her greeting mode.

HoneyBear whines almost continually, rolling onto her back when onereaches toward her. She loves her belly being rubbed. Once you start that,she’ll give you 30 minutes to stop — or longer if her bladder is not full.

We go into the bedroom where both girls can jump on the bed and wedon’t have to reach down so far to pet them.

HoneyBear takes her position at the foot of the bed. By tradition, thathas always been her place and DaisyDawg respects that. The Bear rolls ontoher back and whines until someone — anyone — rubs her belly.

DaisyDawg commandeers the head of the bed alternatively bouncingnot the bed and the pillows. She tries to lick our hand, but her massive teethget in the way. For a Jack Russell (a.k.a. Rat Terrier), she’s got more teeththan I had in my whole lifetime.

PegEgg pets HoneyBear first while I try to calm the DaisyDawg.Then we switch positions because the girls will not. Each has her terri-

tory and that is sacrosanct in some kind of dogs-only-know way.

17:00 — RESTORING THE CPAll the luggage has been brought in, the equipment inspected, and the

computers turned on. The Command Post (CP) has been restored.I bring the luggage from the truck. PegEgg positions it in the order it is

to be unpacked.I quickly check to ensure that the backup external hard drives are re-

moved from the safe.Then I check to ensure that all the computers’ components are plugged

in correctly. For the Command Center to function, we must have all compo-nents up and running smoothly & correctly.

PegEgg is back on Facebook. There is peace on the earth and theangels sing. Her friends immediately recognize her sign-in and rejoice. It’s likethe homecoming of a winning football team.

I open my email, but can’t answer it just yet.


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Before I do, I’ve got to set up the laptop and download the photos forthe journey home. Then I back them up to the 100 Mb external hard drive.From there, they will be placed onto my PC and then onto PegEgg’s PC.Then, immediately, I back them onto the external hard drive that holds allsuch compressed backup files.

23:30 — SATISFIED MINDThe Byrds sing “Satisfied Mind”

from their "Turn! Turn! Turn!" album in1965 [ http://bit.ly/a5eacL ].

The rich may not be satisfied, butI am.

The day has been borderlineperfect; the weather even better.

We’re home. The girls (Daisy-Dawg, HoneyBear, and Queen Belle)are well. Our friends appear to be wellfrom what I can ascertain by scanningmy email and from PegEgg chatting endlessly with her Facebook contacts.

The temperature is a mild, slightly breezy 61 degrees. The skies are clear and the neighborhood quiet.My family surrounds me.And my God still loves me.For what more can a mortal pray?


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23 october 2011 (sunday) allure of the seas day 15...

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