dewhit6959
December 5th, 2004, 01:58 PM
Our roll call thread started slow and picked up steam as we got closer to the cruise. We discussed Holland America, the ship, the world, a little politics, a little this and a little that. No one ever got huffy about the thread straying and comic relief was only a sign on away. We amused ourselves with the creation of the Loyal & Ancient Order of the Good Foot and proceeded with the fez. It was such a silly and absurd idea that we pounced on it. My children would consider the old man daft, but when the group met at the Dolphin Bar at eleven on the first day, we had on various silly headgear adorned with tacky embillishments and a good time was had by all. There were the Hoffman's from Pa. with their beautiful children, Fred and Carole from California with their gang, newlyweds Devon and her groom((who were not seen about that often)) Bill & Brenda, Bernie & Sonny, Terry & Diane, the Shells, Eileen & Terry, Connie & Steve and a large contingent from the Virginia/Maryland/D.C. region including Mark & Carolyn, Susan, Donna and Bernice . Everyone was in fine form and the staff at poolside were attentive and appreciative. We drew some stares. Many onlookers were amused and joined in, some prunes just glared and stared, with one questioning a participant about our fares????
It would be hard for me to break down the ages on the ship as I generally do not guess ages that well. We saw a few who had small medical facilities moving with them, along with children as attendants. One man had an attendant who was well up in age. Lord knows how old he was. I never saw his eyes open. There were a lot of older persons and couples, very friendly, along with many middle aged and some families. It was said that there were over a hundred children on board. The cruise before ours had under ten children it was reported, but the children on this cruise were very nice and typical children. I like children. I was one once. My boys were not cruise material when young. They could tear up anvils and would have climbed the rigging. We knew better than to try and confine them to ten measly decks and several acres. Even the bear and wild hog use to give them wide berth when we went camping.The pool would have been cannonball central for them. I did not drink often then, but did so for relief after bedtime. Those days are over and the kids on this cruise seemed to enjoy themselves. Many ran about the ship, but that's what kids do and the majority would slow down and say hello before tearing off. I did hear one young girl threaten to throw her younger sister over board and chuckled. No complaints here about the children. As far as "characters" were concerned, several come to mind. One, a young mustachioed gent, we nicknamed "the babbler" would engage in conversation at the drop of a hat or if he had met you earlier. No problem, except he never disengaged and the topic of conversation was never quite made clear. I made his aquaintance early on and was rewarded with a lot of sports info, political and conspiracy theory and bursts about the wall. I do not know which wall. Once my wife was enlightened, she would rescue me. I apologize to my fellow travellers whom I abandoned without warning during a group lecture by the "Babbler". He followed us thru the duty free liquor store in St. Maarten, but we gave him the slip by pointing out something free on the lower level. God bless him. Another interesting character was "Mrs. Moo-Moo". She was well into her retirement and had learned the art of comfortable clothing. Too comfortable actually. She wore the same moo moo for most of the trip. It did coordinate nicely with flip flops. I believe they were bedroom slippers, but I am not an expert on female footwear, so I'll call them flip flops. It seems that every time the wife travels with me, new "support" garments are in order. I suppose "brassiere" is politically incorrect these days, so I'll call them support garments. Mrs. Moo-Moo saved valuable luggage space by not including any support garments. I damn near met my maker when Mrs. Moo-Moo stood at the railing overlooking the aft pool one afternoon during sail away festivities. Several stewards and younger male passengers were below here and repositioned themselves with haste, after a gander upwards. I was taking all this in and choked severely on a Corona. I regained my composure and shared the incident with lounge mates who also choked on (and spewed)) their beer. God bless her also. She was a comfortable cruiser.
The final characters were encountered in the casino. The two men will be remembered as "the gamblers", one and two. We are not gamblers and take no precautions when gambling. I do not study blackjack or poker books nor subscribe to any "theory" about the luck of the draw. While seated with my wife at the center two seats, we were counselled continously about our cards and our modus operandi. We operate on the simple belief that we will attempt to stretch our twenty dollars into as much play as possible.
No more, no less. I understand the basics of gambling, having learned very early in life that any work, much less hard work, is preferrable to trying to amass the good things in life with dice or cards. Gambler's One and Two did not come from the same school of thought and rendered advice constantly. I tolerate fools well, as I am related to a few and have been in the company of some of the best earlier in life. They would double down, side bet, insure bets, win big and loose even bigger. We were such simpletons with our measly five dollar bets, playing on for the hour and thanking them for their insight. They liked the dealer, they hated the dealer. They knew why they lost and discussed new strategies. ((these men had plans, maybe not good plans, but plans none-the-less)) We began to tire and made our secret exit signals to each other when "Gambler Madam" made an appearance. She was a younger woman, attractive, with a wadded twenty and ten thrown(yes-thrown) onto the table before sitting down. She got her chips, settled in and entered the banter with One and Two immediately. "Baby needs shoes"," luck be a lady", and all the classic lines were flying. "Madam" wanted a drink and wanted it pronto, so the dealer calls for a waiter and "madam" asks for a "serious" drink, with no ice. Gambler One was to her side and directed much of his gab to her now. She threw down the drink and One graciously offered another. Madam responded that she could cover her own drinks on hubbys tab, but she would gladly accept some chips for rendering luck. Gambler two pitches a chip across us to Madam. I am screaming inside and trying not to swallow my gum. The wife gives me the " lets watch this a while" look and we place another measly five dollar bet. One,Two and Madam are comparing notes out loud on Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City and places I did not know had gambling. Madam has bummed a cig from Two and they are as happy as peas in a pod. Except for the fact that the dealer is bad luck. Madam is now chipping in with free advice concerning my bets. I agree that I should bet more...........the next hand. One and Two are now playing against the house, the dealer and each other for the attentions of the Madam. Wife and I do not exist. We are swirling in the fast furious free form of gamble speech aimed at who ever is supposed to be listening. I wonder where this three way adventure will go and how it will end. The end presents itself in the form of a nine or ten year old child relaying instructions to the Madam from daddy that another child should be picked up from the nursery. The spell was broken. Silence. Madam slurped the last from the glass of ice and stubbed out the smoke. She was gone. One and Two said nothing. I mean nothing. The dealer stopped to reshuffle and we made our exit. They muttered a good bye and that was that. We didn't see Madam again. We didn't so much see One or Two as we heard them. They always shouted out to one another across the pool, gangway or the mezzanine inquiring about the luck of the other. And always, they loudly replied they had won big, really big
It would be hard for me to break down the ages on the ship as I generally do not guess ages that well. We saw a few who had small medical facilities moving with them, along with children as attendants. One man had an attendant who was well up in age. Lord knows how old he was. I never saw his eyes open. There were a lot of older persons and couples, very friendly, along with many middle aged and some families. It was said that there were over a hundred children on board. The cruise before ours had under ten children it was reported, but the children on this cruise were very nice and typical children. I like children. I was one once. My boys were not cruise material when young. They could tear up anvils and would have climbed the rigging. We knew better than to try and confine them to ten measly decks and several acres. Even the bear and wild hog use to give them wide berth when we went camping.The pool would have been cannonball central for them. I did not drink often then, but did so for relief after bedtime. Those days are over and the kids on this cruise seemed to enjoy themselves. Many ran about the ship, but that's what kids do and the majority would slow down and say hello before tearing off. I did hear one young girl threaten to throw her younger sister over board and chuckled. No complaints here about the children. As far as "characters" were concerned, several come to mind. One, a young mustachioed gent, we nicknamed "the babbler" would engage in conversation at the drop of a hat or if he had met you earlier. No problem, except he never disengaged and the topic of conversation was never quite made clear. I made his aquaintance early on and was rewarded with a lot of sports info, political and conspiracy theory and bursts about the wall. I do not know which wall. Once my wife was enlightened, she would rescue me. I apologize to my fellow travellers whom I abandoned without warning during a group lecture by the "Babbler". He followed us thru the duty free liquor store in St. Maarten, but we gave him the slip by pointing out something free on the lower level. God bless him. Another interesting character was "Mrs. Moo-Moo". She was well into her retirement and had learned the art of comfortable clothing. Too comfortable actually. She wore the same moo moo for most of the trip. It did coordinate nicely with flip flops. I believe they were bedroom slippers, but I am not an expert on female footwear, so I'll call them flip flops. It seems that every time the wife travels with me, new "support" garments are in order. I suppose "brassiere" is politically incorrect these days, so I'll call them support garments. Mrs. Moo-Moo saved valuable luggage space by not including any support garments. I damn near met my maker when Mrs. Moo-Moo stood at the railing overlooking the aft pool one afternoon during sail away festivities. Several stewards and younger male passengers were below here and repositioned themselves with haste, after a gander upwards. I was taking all this in and choked severely on a Corona. I regained my composure and shared the incident with lounge mates who also choked on (and spewed)) their beer. God bless her also. She was a comfortable cruiser.
The final characters were encountered in the casino. The two men will be remembered as "the gamblers", one and two. We are not gamblers and take no precautions when gambling. I do not study blackjack or poker books nor subscribe to any "theory" about the luck of the draw. While seated with my wife at the center two seats, we were counselled continously about our cards and our modus operandi. We operate on the simple belief that we will attempt to stretch our twenty dollars into as much play as possible.
No more, no less. I understand the basics of gambling, having learned very early in life that any work, much less hard work, is preferrable to trying to amass the good things in life with dice or cards. Gambler's One and Two did not come from the same school of thought and rendered advice constantly. I tolerate fools well, as I am related to a few and have been in the company of some of the best earlier in life. They would double down, side bet, insure bets, win big and loose even bigger. We were such simpletons with our measly five dollar bets, playing on for the hour and thanking them for their insight. They liked the dealer, they hated the dealer. They knew why they lost and discussed new strategies. ((these men had plans, maybe not good plans, but plans none-the-less)) We began to tire and made our secret exit signals to each other when "Gambler Madam" made an appearance. She was a younger woman, attractive, with a wadded twenty and ten thrown(yes-thrown) onto the table before sitting down. She got her chips, settled in and entered the banter with One and Two immediately. "Baby needs shoes"," luck be a lady", and all the classic lines were flying. "Madam" wanted a drink and wanted it pronto, so the dealer calls for a waiter and "madam" asks for a "serious" drink, with no ice. Gambler One was to her side and directed much of his gab to her now. She threw down the drink and One graciously offered another. Madam responded that she could cover her own drinks on hubbys tab, but she would gladly accept some chips for rendering luck. Gambler two pitches a chip across us to Madam. I am screaming inside and trying not to swallow my gum. The wife gives me the " lets watch this a while" look and we place another measly five dollar bet. One,Two and Madam are comparing notes out loud on Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City and places I did not know had gambling. Madam has bummed a cig from Two and they are as happy as peas in a pod. Except for the fact that the dealer is bad luck. Madam is now chipping in with free advice concerning my bets. I agree that I should bet more...........the next hand. One and Two are now playing against the house, the dealer and each other for the attentions of the Madam. Wife and I do not exist. We are swirling in the fast furious free form of gamble speech aimed at who ever is supposed to be listening. I wonder where this three way adventure will go and how it will end. The end presents itself in the form of a nine or ten year old child relaying instructions to the Madam from daddy that another child should be picked up from the nursery. The spell was broken. Silence. Madam slurped the last from the glass of ice and stubbed out the smoke. She was gone. One and Two said nothing. I mean nothing. The dealer stopped to reshuffle and we made our exit. They muttered a good bye and that was that. We didn't see Madam again. We didn't so much see One or Two as we heard them. They always shouted out to one another across the pool, gangway or the mezzanine inquiring about the luck of the other. And always, they loudly replied they had won big, really big