It\u2019s actually day 4. But, I\u2019m writing this as I\u2019m waiting for the ship to pull into Cozumel to get my wifi \u201cfix\u201d. I want to share something with you from last night\u2019s Cigars Under the Stars.<\/p>\n
Last night I was sitting on the poop-deck smoking a fine Cuban cigar. Well\u2026 I really don\u2019t smoke it, \u2018cause I don\u2019t smoke. But I always buy one in Grand Cayman, light it up, and let it burn. I do this in sorta silent protest to the US policy toward Cuba. I won\u2019t say more than that here \u2018cause you can read about that in my writings elsewhere. Suffice to say our policy is due a massive overhaul.<\/p>\n
Anyway, I was sitting there with the Cuban smoldering away\u2026 sorta contemplating the universe. You know\u2026 wondering why we have two eyes in front and none in back\u2026 why I don\u2019t get my own Caribbean island\u2026 and in general contemplating my navel. As I sat there, I saw a flashing yellow light on the deck about mid-ship. It was coming at me. I thought maybe we had been boarded by aliens\u2026 or maybe it was Cubans attacking.<\/p>\n
As the flashing light got closer, it started to look something like a Zamboni. You know\u2026 one of those things that they use at hockey games for resurfacing the ice. They drive it all around the ice and when they are done the ice has a nice smooth finish.\u00a0 For at least a few minutes the ice is blood free. The hockey players can then go back out to see if they can out punch each other.<\/p>\n
As the Zamboni continued to come toward me, I thought that I must have dozed off and was having some weird Caribbean nightmare. The Caribbean had frozen over and now they were using a Zamboni to smooth it out. I thought\u2026 I would have to actually wear a jacket. Oh the horror of it all.<\/p>\n
But then I realized I wasn\u2019t dreamin\u2019 at all. It was a cruise ship Zamboni \u2026 a contraption that is used to clean the decks. It looks like a small Zamboni with a squeegee on the back. Most of you have probably seen these, but I had never seen one of these in all my cruises. Way back in the olden days they had sailors swab the decks\u2026 with mops and mop-buckets. Several of the \u201cswabbies\u201d would line-up across the deck\u2026 mops in hand. They would slather on soapy water as they waddled backwards down the deck… working their mops side to side.\u00a0Then they would be followed by another line of swabbies that would mop-up the soapy water. After a little while the deck would all spick-n-span.<\/p>\n
It seems that the modern \u201ccruise ship Zamboni\u201d has done away with the need for the swabbies. This Zamboni has brushes underneath that lightly scrub the deck while soapy water is dispensed into the brushes. The squeegee at the back \u201cgrabs\u201d the water and a suction hose pulls it back into the Zamboni.\u00a0 After about ten minutes the whole port side of deck 11 was clean and spiffy\u2026 ready for the next day\u2019s cruise frivolity.<\/p>\n
I wonder if the Navy still has swabbies. It wouldn\u2019t be the same if they didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Before I close this segment, I should mention that this was not a ship organized \u201cCigars Under the Stars\u201d event. I asked Carnival\u2019s brand ambassador to see if he could pave the way to make it ship wide event… but that didn\u2019t happen. So I organized a \u201cmini\u201d version on the highest smoking deck as far aft as you can get. We were doing about 18 knots. If there was anyone bothered by the smoke, they were flapping their wings.<\/p>\n
We are pulling into Cozumel now so it\u2019s time to go ashore and get my internet fix.<\/p>\n
More later\u2026<\/p>\n
K. M.<\/p>\n
Searching for… a wifi.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Next Post<\/a><\/p>\n Go to the beginning of the cruise… Day O<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s actually day 4. But, I\u2019m writing this as I\u2019m waiting for the ship to pull into Cozumel to get my wifi \u201cfix\u201d. I want to share something with you from last night\u2019s Cigars Under the Stars. Last night I … Continue reading