Some of the best ones I had on the cruise were when I met and visited with interesting people. A cruise is a great place to do that because everybody has lots (I mean LOTS) of time. There was the 80 something woman named Janet that I met in the back (oops! sorry, Dad, I mean the stern) of the ship as we were leaving the port of Nassau. She and her husband had been on 27 (yep, that's what I said) Carnival cruises in the last ten years (just Carnival, by the way). Amazing!
Then there was Ruth! She was very short and round with curly gray hair and said she was "over 91"! Her husband died when she was 65 so she started to travel. And I don't mean just down the street either. This little ball of fire has been to over 50 countries and always stayed in hostels. And she mostly traveled alone!! Very cool!
But one of my very favorite memories on the cruise happened with my own family! Imagine that! Since Dave was with us this year and because he's kind of a fancy pants we ate in the formal dining room a lot more than last year instead of grazing at the buffet.
Eating at the Monet is definitely an experience and an education in fine dining and one part of that is the length of time that you sit at the table. There were three courses and fine dining allows you plennnnnnty of time to leisurely enjoy each dish. We probably spent at least two hours each evening just visiting and appreciating not only the delicious and sometimes new fare but also the beautiful presentation.
At first I was kind of antsy, wondering what was taking so long but as the days went by I began to relax more and just enjoyed the whole event.
On the afternoon of this particular day Dave, Dad, and I had been on the third level deck watching as the ship left Key West and Dad began to reminisce about his years in the Coast Guard during WW II and how all of that began. He hadn't gotten very far in his story when we were distracted by something and so he didn't finish. But that evening at dinner I asked him about it and so began the stories of his years in the military, including the time his boat was shot at by German airplanes as they were escorting the American battle ships. It wasn't so much the stories that was so memorable although I had never heard the one I mentioned. It was just the time......the time spent with my dad just visiting and getting to know him and who he is just a little bit better.
Yes, memories of the cruise are nice!
