As you probably know by now, we have spent the
last two weeks cruising on the good ship “Volendam”. This was all arranged by Regee's niece, Inca, who is the Guest Relations Director on the Volendam. Unlike the Lorde song which says "we'll never be royals," we were treated like royalty for two glorious weeks.
A beautiful stateroom, courtesy Inca
The seas were calm and the tropical breezes
balmy. We seem to have avoided typhoons, acts of piracy and mutiny on
board. Regee, Mama and I also avoided
a nasty bout of gastroenteritis that was going around the ship by not eating
for two weeks, washing our hands incessantly and taking Purell
intravenously.
You could always find a quiet spot to relax
Of course, I am joking about not eating. In spite of limiting myself to sensible breakfasts, small mid-morning snacks, modest lunches, only a few cooking demos, minor afternoon teas, limited wine tastings, skimpy dinners and parsimonious late night suppers by the pool, I somehow managed to end up looking like the Michelin Man.
Hurry up, the next meal is in 10 minutes....
Had it not been for pounding around the Promenade Deck morning, noon and night (3.5 circuits = 1 mile), I would probably have been off-loaded by crane at the container terminal in Singapore!
3-mile power walks on the Promenade Deck saved my figure!
Cruising is not for the faint of heart.
You have to be able to eat at least five meals a day.
You have to walk impossible distances to your cabin--if you can work out what deck you are on and whether you are fore, aft or mid-ship.
You have to be ready for deck drills, fire drills, escape drills and lifeboat drills.
You have to put up with constant announcements over the public address system. These can come at any time of day or night depending upon whether it is the captain telling you at 5.30 am that there are only 3 metres of water under the ship as you steam up the Irrawaddy River; or the cruise director telling you that there is bingo in the Explorers' Lounge at 6 pm.
You sometimes have to sit with strangers at group dining tables and be conversant in Dutch, Indonesian, Tagalog, Australian, Canadian and have a smattering of Texan, Creole and Tidewater. We met them all.
Quite apart from eating 12 hours a day, there were many other "activities" on board. Here are just a few:
Lots of cooking demos--another chance to eat!!
Shows every night--including a Burmese elephant dance
Dance Mania--Mama in full swing here!
Up on deck, watching the ships pass by
Viewing the beautiful art work all over the ship
Watching the sun rise (above) and set
Having a beer on the Lido Deck and listening to the band
...and when all else failed, pop upstairs for a quick snack!!
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