Upside Down

Well, we went off on the cruise we had been planning since the dark days in the hospital last year. Beach time was in my dreams for months.

We cruised in November at the end of the longest huricane season on record. We had overcast days with periodic daily rain. There was no chance for a sunburn at all. We went south and then west from Miami for 7 days of running before the storms.

First stop was an island off of Haiti. The beach attendents were at the tender docks with wheeled chairs. The wheels were huge balloons that moved around on the sandy paths pretty good. The tender boats carried about 150 people like a double-decker bus. Accessibility for those of us in wheelchairs was pretty good, with a lift that carried you down from the ship to a staging area next to the little tender boat. Fortunately, I can walk just a little and it was easy to move from the chair to the boat as it rocked. Gorgeous young toothy, muscled men were there to help fat old ladies like me with a hand and a smile.

The water was choppy all seven days. There was the 24th storm of the season forming up to the east of us all week and it pushed the air and water around authoritatively. The island was foggy and green as we came up to it in the pouring rain of the morning shower. We were soaked as we found our beach place and peeled our clothes off.

We lathered up in hopes of sun, arranged our things and then ventured down to the swimming section cabled off on the beach. As you looked around, you saw waves crashing distructively on lava rock outcrops, good places to stay away from. You saw ruins of adobe buildings poking out from the lush greenery of the isle.

These ruins were fenced to keep the people from the boat from doing more damage than the weather had done, but they were picturesque and food for imagination. Who could have lived here? Pirates? Old world immigrants filled with dreams of fortunes to be grabbed and dragged back where home would always be?

As the morning wore on, two more cruise ships tethered next to our ship and people unloaded by the hundreds in the misty rain. The air was filled with tinny music of dubious caribbean flavor, easy to ignore with your own headset and some Joni Mitchell songs on your CD.

Out in the semi-warm water, the sea was murky green and gently lifted you as you stood shoulder deep holding on to the beach demarcation cable. The cable had sliding bouyant plastic 'bubbles' all along it and the cable itself was draped in fine lacy kelp making your hand hold a slimy but secure place in the moving water. Your toe constantly felt round in the sand below you to tap into the illusive solidarity of the unknowable ground beneath you.

I stood in the water for almost an hour, basking and dreaming. It was good beyond measure.

I turned to walk back out of the water toward our beach seating and as I came up out of the water, I stepped down into a rocky cavity that gashed my leg, tripped me up, dropped me down into the water and turned me over on my back. I was unable to get back up. I got my foot out of the hole, cut and bleeding, but I could not get both my feet under me to rise out of the water. I held on to the cable and pulled myself back deeper into the water so that I could float and pull my feet under myself again. Several saw I was in trouble and came to my aid. Finally, calmed down, I was able to let go of the cable, grasp Larry's shoulder, and walk around the hole and out of the water.

Laying on the lounge chair, sand in every crevice and unmentionable orifice, I pulled a towel over me, turned on my side, listened to my music in my headset, closed my eyes and roamed in my mind for an hour. Bliss.

Later, after a sort of barbeque lunch of hot dogs and melon, we went back to the ship. As we rode back in the tender boat, we got a really good look at our ship, and to compare it to the two other ships along side of it. It was newer, more a sort of middle size and it had just a little more sparkle and sheen to it. It was the Radiance of the Seas. Not the largest Royal Caribbean liner, but a perfect jewel, nevertheless.

I went to the solarium pool and hot tub area. This was the place outside our cabin that I loved best on the ship. It was a smallish pool and deck lounging area under an entire glass ceiling that was the size of a baseball field. There were pillared garden boxes high in the air blocking the sun along two sides. The garden boxes were overfilled with lush tropical greenery, ferns and sculptures of birds and animals. There was a large sculpture of a cat draped along the edge of the pool. "Sensual laziness allowed here" was the message. I followed directions and lazed comfortably.

The solarium was on the 11th floor of the ship and our cabin suite was on the 10th floor. It was easy to move between the two areas and the almost always open cafeteria-style restaurant to the aft of us.

We chose a junior suite with a balcony that had handicap accomodations. It was perfect for the three of us. I had difficulty with my knees that week and could not climb up, stand up and just move around very well. I used my rented scooter to move around the ship and until I felt comfortable parking it outside the door of our suite, it took up too much space inside our cabin area. The bathroom was just right -- nice large shower area and plenty of room to move around if you were chairbound. There was a walk-in closet with almost enough hangers for the three of us. There was a small safe area to put dress-up jewelery, money and passports.

The ship had a theater rising three floors on the back of the ship. It had a casino, well stocked with standard vegas style tables and slots. It had a nook with internet access, some pcs for passenger use, and some cubicles for bring-your-own laptop users.

The ship had two swimming pools, 15 bars, and 4+ restaurants. It had some high-priced shops, a library and an art gallery. The art gallery had collectibles in both art and the sports genres. The prices were in the low 4 figures. Every wall, nook and cranny on the ship had a piece of artwork. Something was always there to delight your eye. The long halls with cabin doors had collages and other smaller works of wall art. Everything was tasteful and interesting to look at.

The three of us had second seating dinner at a table for eight. We were participating in a themed event for the cruise, so we were seated with others in our theme group. We were the off-sized table, folks came and went from our table over the whole week. Some nights it was just the three of us. Most of the ship areas that the guests use is enclosed, so you are not bothered by the weather much. It just feels like a moving hotel most of the time.

The infrastructure around you allows you to feel the movement of the ship, but it is not unpleasant or upsetting, even in the choppest times. I felt the movement the most on stormy nights laying in my bunk next to the outside wall of the ship. I slept well.

The first 3 floors of the ship contain crew cabins and work areas like the medical suite and the laundry. There are three banks of elevators: fore, aft, and starboard midship. The disembarking security area is on the starboard on the second floor with x-ray machines and a wall of plaques and momentos from all the ports the ship has entered. Here is where as a passenger, I felt the mechanical crew of the ship the strongest. Here was where the worker bees worked. The wall of plaques was a reminder that they were a first class prize-winning team.

As I moved around the corridors of the ship on every floor, I was able to move my scooter most places. There was a feeling of there being two ships. One where the passengers go, and one melded deep in the walls where the crew goes. They seemed to have their own elevators, work rooms, special spaces tucked all over the ship, but private from you. They time their work in your cabins according to your dinner seating and your habits after breakfast.

Travel-wise passangers rose, went to their balcony to watch the ship pull into some harbor, dressed for their morning, left their room, ate and entertained themselves until lunch and allowed the crew to make up the cabins all morning, out of sight.

If you have done commerical traveling across America and stayed in the middle- to upperclass hotel lines, you will feel comfortable on these cruise ships. Royal Caribbean seems to be a little above the middle of these companies. With the price of the cruise, the tips and the all inclusiveness of the service, the price is not too bad for seven days. Trips off the ship are bonuses, but not at all necessary to completely enjoy your time.

My take was that the Carnival line was the equivalent of a Howard Johnson, Royal Caribbean was like an Embassy Suites and Cunard was like a Hilton hotel, just to give you a feel for it.

In the next section, I will cover entertainment and content.

I was impressed with the service on the ship and with the sense of security and professional competence that crew worked at projecting. The ship itself was a monument and a vehicle, a rich combination.