I am comfortably typing this while reclining on a deck chair on the Lower Promenade Deck. We are underway and the sun is slowly setting in the west because we are sailing west and, in a way, keeping up with it.
Today is Friday, January 27th so much has happened since I last wrote. I will eventually write about our Hilo adventure but first I wish to tell a little more about the ship. The Amsterdam is less than 1000 feet long but if you were to think of the decks as stories in a building, it is about 14 stories high.
Many passengers use the elevators all the time and the majority opts for elevators over the stairs when the ship is really rocking and rolling. There are plenty of elevators. The twelve which passengers use are divided into three locations. Four are located at the ‘forward’ section of the ship, four are ‘midship’ and four are ‘aft.’ (Please note that I have added these three words to my previous nautical vocabulary of ‘port’ and ‘starboard.’) I suspected there were other elevators that are only supposed to be used by the crew. This suspicion was confirmed last night at dinner when I was told the legend of “Kiss Me Annie.” I assume you have heard that some senior citizens opt to live full-time on a ship rather than a retirement home. Well, according to the story, which I have no way of confirming, Kiss Me Annie would get to ride the elevator reserved for the ship’s officers on the arm of an officer. This lady reputably asked married men to dance with her so often that she was required to get the wives’ permission first. I am sure that the elderly flirtatious lady is now dead but legends have a way of living on. I have been told by more than one passenger that there is an aging woman on this ship named ‘Dolly.’ She is described as having certain idiosyncrasies but I will wait and reserve judgment until I encounter this legend myself.
I think the gentle rocking of the boat may have caused me to digress. I was writing about elevators, not idiosyncratic perpetual cruisers. So now, I will describe the special features of the elevators. As with any elevator, I push the ‘up’ or ‘down’ arrow button to indicate whether I desire to ascend or descend, What I find interesting is that, as an elevator arrives, a bell sounds once if the elevator is heading up and a second time with a lower tone if it is heading down. The elevator may be delivering fellow passengers to the deck you are on or picking you up to join them on their upward or downward journeys. One time, I accidentally leaned against the wall with the buttons when I got into the elevator. Those buttons are really sensitive! I doomed those elevator riders to several extra stops. Many times, the elevator arrives empty and with no destination. In other words, I have summoned the elevator but could change my mind since I have it all to myself. I suppose this focus on elevators is somehow connected to the fact that when I was very young I wanted to be n elevator operator when I grew up.
One final thing that I learned about ship elevators is that when the crew is testing the diesel generator, the elevators do not work. After almost a week at sea, Mary and I had to wait a couple of hours to disembark due to the fact that none of the elevators were working.
Next time, I will write about Hilo…maybe