World Cruise - Four Sea Days

Dr. Tom Jones

Some readers may wonder what in the world you do with four days at sea. Trust me you can be busier than the proverbial bee if you want to be. With a new segment of the World Cruise beginning in Lima, our cruise director, Gary Hunter, had lined up quite a series of guest speakers and entertainers. Several days had three or four lectures scheduled and of course every night had a show to see including one truly great one full of old Broadway musical songs.

Bob and I had read the book, Skywalking, An Astronaut’s Memoir, by Dr. Tom Jones so we were eager to hear him speak and see if he’d brought any pictures. He did. And they were spectacular! He was a great speaker but I’m glad we got to read his book as well because he really didn’t have enough time to tell the whole story and it’s a great story.

Bob Graham

We also listened to a very interesting lecture by Ken Rees on Easter Island which was coming up soon on our itinerary. As a matter of fact, it would be our only chance to set foot on solid ground in the first ten days of cruising on this segment. (Pitcairn is another stop but they will come on board to us). We learned about the Moai (pronounced Mo-eye), the huge statures that remain a mystery still today. No one has quite figured out the why or the how although there are plenty of theories. One was that once carved in the quarry, they “walked” with the help of ropes tied to them—actually wiggling down a path, but no one can figure out how they got up some of the inclines on the island.

Senator Bob Graham filled our morning on another day as he spoke of the Unanswered Questions of 9/11. There are some mysteries there that are as well hidden as those of the Moai.

Other lecturers included Dr. Melvyn Bowen (Cook’s Voyages), Anthony Terry (British Naval History), Stephen Cole (The Tragedy of the Arabs), Leo Thorsness (a former POW and Medal of Honor recipient), and Laurie Wickwire (The British Crown Jewels—I didn’t see the lecture but I don’t believe she had any with her).

Dancers in Lima, Peru

Our evening entertainment began on Super Bowl Sunday with a huge party in the Galaxy Lounge including hamburgers, hot dogs, and the accompaniments. As I mentioned, the singers and dancers did a Broadway review that was fantastic and then followed a musical evening with Marty Henne, and then an amazing performance of acrobatics, dancing and singing by artists, Donovan & Rebecca.

Now that’s just a sampling. There are also bridge lessons going on as well as crafts, needlework, Spanish lessons, computer lessons, writing lessons, Yamaha keyboarding, and on and on. Did I mention there are lots of breaks for food as well? And then there’s Bob’s ever continuing game of paddle tennis. Life at sea isn’t nearly as bad as one might think—at least not aboard the Crystal Serenity.