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Cruise report
Nov. 28th, 2006 12:21 pmSo here I am on Antigua, the second stop on my Caribbean cruise and I'm in an Internet cafe at the pier. I haven't been journaling lately ("Really? We didn't notice!"), but I really want to get some of this down while it's fresh.
We boarded the Radiance of the Seas early Saturday afternoon and got settled. I had met my cabin-mate, David R., the night before at the hotel where I stayed after arriving in Fort Lauderdale (they recommend that you arrive the day or night before the ship sets sail, so that you have more options in the case that you have trouble with your flight). I stayed the night at the hotel with Dennis W. David shared a room with Scott M. and Matt M.
There are about 2,500 passengers on the ship, and 630 of them booked with Pied Piper, a gay tour group, so about half of the men I pass in the corridors are gay.
Saturday evening and Sunday morning, I was feeling a little lost and out of sorts. We had a Pied Piper get-together around 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening, which made me feel very withdrawn, prompting me to revert to my introverted habits. I've learned how to socialize on a small scale, but such a large crowd always intimidates me. I didn't speak to anyone that I didn't already know.
And while David is very friendly, I didn't want to cramp his style, so I was wandering around on my own Sunday morning. Many of the activities on the ship didn't seem interesting to me, and I began to wonder if this cruise was a mistake. There was a singles event for the Pied Piper group, but I avoided it because I don't consider myself single anymore, although Dakota told me that I could "enjoy" myself while I was away without any guilt.
Well, I needn't have worried. After acclimating, I'm now having a wonderful time. David and I have hit it off -- very well, in fact. :-)
Sunday night was the Captain's reception in the Colony Club on the ship. Lots of mingling among the passengers. I ran into people I knew and I was already feeling more comfortable. At one point, they were playing a waltz and David asked me to dance. I usually stick to square dancing, but he gave me a quick bit of instruction and then wheeled me around the dance floor. Nobody else was dancing, so he and I had the attention of the entire club. David is an excellent dancer and I managed to hold my own. After we got off the dance floor, more people ventured out for the next song; we had broken the ice. A nice man, who introduced himself as Ed, came to thank us for being brave enough to dance together alone on the floor in front of all of the straight people. :-)
After the reception, our group -- David, Scott, Matt, Dennis, Kurt, Michael and I -- had dinner at Portofino, a specialty italian restaurant on board. It was a formal night in the main dining room, requiring a suit or a tux, so we decided that if we were going to dress up, why not eat at a much nicer restaurant?
Portafino was excellent in every sense of the word. The food, the presentation, the service. It was all very relaxing. And while I don't dress for dinner very often, it did make the evening more special.
After dinner, we retired to the main atrium, where there the Tami (not T-A-M-I) Novak Trio was performing dance music, sung by Tami herself. David and I danced some more, to the smiles and applause of the people sitting there. Once again, we were the only couple on the floor initially, but we were joined after the first song.
Yesterday, I was much more relaxed. I had managed to enjoy myself the night before, so I knew that I'd have fun for the rest of the week. David and I spent the morning together in bed (much private thoughts on that!) and then I had a small lunch while the ship docked at San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Dennis and I went off the ship to wander around the city. I found some great pieces of art by a local artist, based on petroglyphs left behind by the original inhabitants. I got to meet the artist, Jacinto Ramirez, although he didn't seem to speak much English. I did buy two of his pieces however. I like them a great deal. One of them may be for the Christmas gift exchange at work; the other might be for Dakota -- that depends on whether I find anything nicer at any of the other islands.
I took a nap upon returning to the ship, joining David, who had already stared his afternoon nap. Before we knew it, it was 7:00 p.m., and we joined the Pied Piper Group for another cocktail hour before dinner. I was a lot more relaxed at dinner too, despite just meeting my table-mates two nights before. I was a lot more calm and confident, and I perform much better in smaller groups. (And it is very much like performing. Making conversation and such with strangers doesn't come naturally to me.)
After dinner, I caught up with David at the Atrium again and we danced to Tami and her trio again. He showed me the foxtrot and the cha-cha that time. :-)
So I'm having a great time despite a slow start!
We boarded the Radiance of the Seas early Saturday afternoon and got settled. I had met my cabin-mate, David R., the night before at the hotel where I stayed after arriving in Fort Lauderdale (they recommend that you arrive the day or night before the ship sets sail, so that you have more options in the case that you have trouble with your flight). I stayed the night at the hotel with Dennis W. David shared a room with Scott M. and Matt M.
There are about 2,500 passengers on the ship, and 630 of them booked with Pied Piper, a gay tour group, so about half of the men I pass in the corridors are gay.
Saturday evening and Sunday morning, I was feeling a little lost and out of sorts. We had a Pied Piper get-together around 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening, which made me feel very withdrawn, prompting me to revert to my introverted habits. I've learned how to socialize on a small scale, but such a large crowd always intimidates me. I didn't speak to anyone that I didn't already know.
And while David is very friendly, I didn't want to cramp his style, so I was wandering around on my own Sunday morning. Many of the activities on the ship didn't seem interesting to me, and I began to wonder if this cruise was a mistake. There was a singles event for the Pied Piper group, but I avoided it because I don't consider myself single anymore, although Dakota told me that I could "enjoy" myself while I was away without any guilt.
Well, I needn't have worried. After acclimating, I'm now having a wonderful time. David and I have hit it off -- very well, in fact. :-)
Sunday night was the Captain's reception in the Colony Club on the ship. Lots of mingling among the passengers. I ran into people I knew and I was already feeling more comfortable. At one point, they were playing a waltz and David asked me to dance. I usually stick to square dancing, but he gave me a quick bit of instruction and then wheeled me around the dance floor. Nobody else was dancing, so he and I had the attention of the entire club. David is an excellent dancer and I managed to hold my own. After we got off the dance floor, more people ventured out for the next song; we had broken the ice. A nice man, who introduced himself as Ed, came to thank us for being brave enough to dance together alone on the floor in front of all of the straight people. :-)
After the reception, our group -- David, Scott, Matt, Dennis, Kurt, Michael and I -- had dinner at Portofino, a specialty italian restaurant on board. It was a formal night in the main dining room, requiring a suit or a tux, so we decided that if we were going to dress up, why not eat at a much nicer restaurant?
Portafino was excellent in every sense of the word. The food, the presentation, the service. It was all very relaxing. And while I don't dress for dinner very often, it did make the evening more special.
After dinner, we retired to the main atrium, where there the Tami (not T-A-M-I) Novak Trio was performing dance music, sung by Tami herself. David and I danced some more, to the smiles and applause of the people sitting there. Once again, we were the only couple on the floor initially, but we were joined after the first song.
Yesterday, I was much more relaxed. I had managed to enjoy myself the night before, so I knew that I'd have fun for the rest of the week. David and I spent the morning together in bed (much private thoughts on that!) and then I had a small lunch while the ship docked at San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Dennis and I went off the ship to wander around the city. I found some great pieces of art by a local artist, based on petroglyphs left behind by the original inhabitants. I got to meet the artist, Jacinto Ramirez, although he didn't seem to speak much English. I did buy two of his pieces however. I like them a great deal. One of them may be for the Christmas gift exchange at work; the other might be for Dakota -- that depends on whether I find anything nicer at any of the other islands.
I took a nap upon returning to the ship, joining David, who had already stared his afternoon nap. Before we knew it, it was 7:00 p.m., and we joined the Pied Piper Group for another cocktail hour before dinner. I was a lot more relaxed at dinner too, despite just meeting my table-mates two nights before. I was a lot more calm and confident, and I perform much better in smaller groups. (And it is very much like performing. Making conversation and such with strangers doesn't come naturally to me.)
After dinner, I caught up with David at the Atrium again and we danced to Tami and her trio again. He showed me the foxtrot and the cha-cha that time. :-)
So I'm having a great time despite a slow start!
