Death and The Horizon

"Life is eternal and love is immortal; And death is only a horizon, And a horizon is nothing save the limit of our sight." - Rossiter W. Raymond

The Long-Awaited Vacation, Part Six

I thought I'd start this post with a picture that I got from the pages and pages of photos that Sandee's handsome hubby Zane took during the cruise. He actually took pictures of people whereas I mostly took people of places and things so I've snitched a few (with permission of course!) to "flesh" out my posts here and there. This shot above was actually taken while we were still in port in Miami shortly after Barb and I had met up with everyone on the Lido Deck and before I got pretty weirded out for the rest of the cruise.  I'd had the pleasure of meeting both Sandee and Zane twice before on trips to California but it was fantastic to see her again.  She and Zane had an absolutely fantastic time and, unlike myself, can't wait to get back on a cruise ship again!  Of course, what else would one expect from a Commodore??

After leaving the Bahamas, Monday night was the night for all of us to go to the steakhouse on the Glory and even though I took my camera with me (as always), I think I was just way too busy enjoying the food and the company to take any pictures! Rather than sitting at a big round table for ten that you had to shout across to be heard, the steakhouse had us sitting across from each other so I was able to talk to Sandy and Dick who were across from me without having the risk of losing my voice. Barb was to my left and on the other side of her were Sandee & Zane and Bee & Charlie and a special guest of theirs. It was still hard to talk to them but everyone was dressed up in their finest and the food was absolutely delicious! I had my very first steak & lobster and every single bite was fantastic. And the service ... oh heck, you can't beat the service on a cruise ship, of that I'm convinced!  The picture below of myself, Sandee, and Barb was again taken by Zane but I don't remember if it was before or after dinner! Before I think ...

The shot below was definitely taken after dinner when we'd left the 5-star restaurant (it costs $30 each for dinner but it was SO worth it only if to be treated like royalty by the staff!).  I guess we were there longer than I thought we were as when we came back out on deck, the Lido Deck was darned near empty and the lights had all come up.  This is looking towards the fore of the ship from aft ... like how I learned all of the nautical directions??

Being the ever-exciting social animal that I am, I believe I went back to my cabin after this and went to bed early while everyone else went to go see a show or to the comedy club. I don't think I did a single late night on the cruise but that's okay because it meant that I could get up early and take pictures while no one else was about!

For example, these are the elevators on the Lido Deck that Barb and I used - a lot! 

I couldn't seem to get a shot of the deck layout without light issues but I wanted to post this as Barb found these guides to be quite helpful once she noticed that they were there! My poor cabin-mate always seemed to be turned around as to which direction was which so I think she needs to go back and practice on another cruise! 

This is just a quick shot of the glass elevators as I was heading out towards the open deck so I could try to get a picture of the sunrise ... whew!  Almost missed it! 

For the shot above and the shot below, I was on Deck 10 Aft and as you can tell, there was basically no one else around as they were all sleeping.  For me to be up at sunrise when I don't have to work is pretty unheard of but I was enjoying being out and about early for some strange reason. 

And of course there HAS to be a picture of my most favorite place on the ship - Deck 3 Starboard where it was usually just me, a lot of empty deck chairs, and the lifeboats. In this case there was one other person out there but that's okay, I know how to share! Everyone tells me that you generally find a favorite spot on the ship and stick to it and for me - this was it! 

The rest of the day was spent at sea doing "fun" things what with Carnival being the fun ship and all!  Barb and I went and played a musical trivia game and then we played a single game of Bingo where she managed to walk away with the singular $600 prize - yay, Barb!  We celebrated with a Bloody Mary out on my favorite deck!  Later in the afternoon we went to a "Bloggers' Tea" where John Heald himself served up tea (Earl Grey, please!) along with pastries and cucumber sandwiches.  It was all quite civilized and, once again, I forgot to take pictures!  If you're interested you can check out a video of Tea Time over on YouTube if you'd like and you might even get a peek at a few of us that were there but just a quick peek!

Following tea I decided that it might be a good evening to get some pictures of sunset being that I had managed to get some of the sunrise but in order to do that I had to skip dinner with everyone else in the dining room as sunset was right about the same time.  I figured I could just order from Room Service after I was done taking pictures being that I had heard so many wonderful things about Room Service on the ship.  Heck, I'm all for letting someone bring me dinner on a tray! First, though, pictures were needed so it was back down to my favorite deck!

I have absolutely no idea who the couple in the picture above is but it's one of my very favorites being that I am a bit of a romantic fool and love seeing people in love.  Not that it doesn't depress the ever-lovin' beegeebers out of me being that no one loves me that way but I do love romanticism in all of its ways, shapes, and forms.  And really, isn't that just a great shot??

As for the rest of the pictures, they speak of a solitariness to me, especially with the fading light of evening, but considering that's how I was feeling I think that they most definitely captured my mood.  There's just something about the vastness of the ocean to make you feel small in the world and watching the sun set over the Atlantic definitely made me feel small and alone and maybe just a bit melancholy, too. However, I was actually quite good with that so it wasn't a bad thing. 

Going back to my cabin to order that much-anticipated Room Service which ended up being a darned good BLT made with the most bacon I've ever had on a BLT anywhere, I checked our TV to see where we were in the vastness of the ocean. A Navy friend of mine had told me before I left on my cruise to not worry as I would never be more than two miles from land ... straight down ... but in looking at the sea depth I realized that he was wrong as we were definitely over waters more than two miles deep! Thanks for the comforting words, Gary - not!

Following my tasty dinner, I decided to venture out of my cabin (gasp!) and go join the people down in the Deck 3 Lobby where there was usually someone performing.  Barb and I had sat down there on Sunday evening and listened to a duet that I quite liked as we watched couples dancing on the small dance floor.  I had really enjoyed watching the couples dancing as it's something that I always wished I could do myself though it's kind of hard when a) you're uncoordinated and b) you don't have a partner!  Still, I thought it might be nice to head back down and grab a chair and a drink and listen to the music so I did. First, though, a few more pictures!

I never did find out their names but this is the duet that I liked; they performed a lot of songs that I hadn't heard in years and the female half had a voice very much like Celine Dion or someone like that.  She was quite good as was her partner but the main thing I remember about him was that he always said "Ah, thank you!" after every song! While listening to them I also treated myself to a very tasty Tiramisu Martini but you're not going to see a picture of it - imagine that!  Trust me, it was delicious and was a nice end to a nice evening at sea.

One of Many ...

I finally got around to uploading the pictures I took from my recent cruise to my computer from the memory card - all 1,151 of them - and now have the rather daunting task of sorting through them to find out which ones to keep and which ones to send to the recycle bin. I get the feeling it may definitely take me awhile!

So, while I'm doing that I thought I'd share at least one that I was rather pleased with. This shot was taken from Deck 10 Aft on Saturday morning as we were making our way back towards Miami. I had gotten up extra early that morning to take pictures of the sunrise but for awhile there I wasn't even sure if there would be one due to the clouds that were gathered on the horizon. Fortunately, the sun did manage to break through and this is one of the shots that I got that morning.

Makes the equilibrium issues I've been having since I got home more than worth it I think!

Looking at the Sky on Friday - The Orange Version!

It's Friday so that means it's time once again for us all to look up and take a gander at the skies with that CrAzY Working Mom of three - Tisha! As a mom of three myself (though the first two were really spaced quite a few years apart), I spent a lot of time looking up myself though I think most of it was in supplication to the heavens and wondering "WHY??"

This week's pictures come courtesy of the great view I have from my job in dispatch and the beautiful sunrise that we had last Saturday morning which was the proverbial "calm before the storm" as it was snowing pretty heavily by 3:00 that afternoon. I guess this one was pretty accurate when it comes to the saying of "red in the morning, sailor take warning" even though a lot of the sky was orange!

Be sure to stop by the home of Looking at the Sky on Friday and follow the links to see what other people saw when they took the time to look up and not down. Oh, and feel free to tell Tisha I sent you!