October 25, 1991: A Visit to Nassau, Bahamas
	October 23, 1991: A Day in San Juan, Puerto Rico
	Return to the Caribbean Cruise Index

Thursday was another day spent entirely cruising; it was some six hundred miles from San Juan to our last port of call- Nassau, on Grand Bahama Island.

Cruising on the Costa Riviera

Today was an uneventful day, spent entirely at sea. If you have not ever been on a cruise, perhaps you might think that spending all day on the ship, and not stopping anywhere interesting, would be pretty boring, but you would be wrong.

The first "cruise lines" were almost all transatlantic, and steaming across the ocean took four or five days. Early on, ships found that to attract passengers they had to offer some sort of experience in addition to the passage from point A to point B. Fine dining was probably the first offering, and as the class system fell out of favor that dining experience extended to all the passengers- whether they had multi-room suites or the simplest interior cabins. But very quickly, ships added card rooms, bars, reading rooms, scheduled shipboard activities, exercise programs, gymnasiums and swimming pools.

But we were still talking about one way travel; people wouldn't get on a boat in New York, steam to London and then turn around and come right back home. They might stay in London for a while, but beginning after World War II, people who wanted to spend a week in London didn't also want to spend eight or ten days on a ship going back and forth- they would rather fly. After all, the point was to see London, not the middle of the North Atlantic.

The Costa Riviera

Beginning in the 1950s, a new paradigm began to emerge: cruising. In cruising, being on board the ship is the objective, as travel by ship was leisurely and restful. Cruising was for people who wanted a vacation, but didn't want to fly to one place, see it, and fly home. But cruise lines realized that they had to offer some sort of destination activity, so they quickly began the practice of having two, three or even more ports of call for a one week cruise. This attracted more different types of passengers, and it made a lot of money for the cruise lines since they could now sell their customers shore arrangements (everything but the hotel, which, of course, the cruise line brought with it).

Some cruises went to fairly routine ports, as ours did, but some went to more exotic locations, and pretty soon, all over the world, there were hundreds of different cruises stopping at many hundreds of different ports. This made it possible for cruise lines to get repeat business they might otherwise have lost. That was pretty much the situation when we took our cruise.

So what was the average sea day like? Well, even before breakfast the ship offered on-deck exercise programs and early morning coffee and croissants on the open decks. Then, we could have breakfast either at the buffet, in the dining room or in our own stateroom. During the morning, the card rooms and reading rooms were open, there were cooking demonstrations, other kinds of classes, spa appointments, gym time, and lectures. The pool was always open of course. Then lunch, again just about anywhere you wanted it. In the afternoon, there were again both indoor and outdoor activities- much like those in the morning, except that the casino was also open. The afternoon was when I did my jogging. Then dinner (the longest, most involved meal of the day). Finally, in the evening, you could choose between the casino, one of the lounges (some with live music), a movie in the theatre or the evening show in the La Scala showroom. (We went to a few of these; they were mostly singing an dancing revues.) So unless you actually want to be lazy and do mostly nothing, there is no shortage of things to do during the day. Grant and I also enjoyed just sitting up on deck and watching the Atlantic Ocean slide by.

The Captain's Farewell Dinner

It might sound as if this event should happen on the last night of the cruise, but I discovered that rarely is there a formal affair on the last night because passengers like to get their packing pretty much done by dinnertime on the last night, as luggage is picked up by the crew that night, to be delivered back to the passenger on the dock after debarkation. This is, apparently, something of a tradition now on cruises.

The Captain's Farewell Dinner is a formal affair, which for most passengers means jacket and tie for the guys and dress-to-kill for the ladies. There was a special menu of high-end entrees and the service was more formal than usual. I brought my camera to the event and after dinner took a number of pictures of our group. There is no particular story behind most of these pictures, so let's just have a look at them:

Dessert Presentation at the Captain's Farewell Dinner Our waiters, after serving a meal which was just as good as all the previous ones, are doing a presentation of Baked Alaska, with sparklers in the tops.

At the Captain's Farewell Dinner Here again you can see the waiters in line with the Baked Alaska. It was dramatic, but I am not used to eating at the types of places where the presentation of the food makes much difference.

At left is Grant at the Captain's Farewell Dinner aboard the Costa Riviera. I can't say enough about Grant and how proud I was of him for making the effort to go on the cruise and enjoy himself in spite of the pain and discomfort and inconvenience of his illness.

Here is another picture taken at the Captain's Farewell Dinner:

Our Assistant Waiter, Patek

(Picture at left) Patek was from India someplace, and had a marked Indian accent. His accent was almost a parody; it sounded just like a comedian trying to sound like an Indian. I found myself a couple of times at the table imitating his accent; not, thank goodness, when he was ever in earshot. But he was a nice guy and quite efficient.     (Picture at right) John was from England and had been on the ship for two years. We had a chance to chat just briefly about his job. He said it was a good opportunity to leave home and see some different places, but that working on a cruise ship was not a career. He did like the travel, and he did like the people he met, but he was constantly on the lookout for a better opportunity. He was also very efficient and attentive, once we got him trained about the iced tea.

John, Our Waiter

We did have to get used to the way tipping is done on board the ship. On your last day, a list of the people who have served you in the dining room, in your cabin, and elsewhere on the ship is provided, along with a suggested amount for a gratuity. Just like restaurants, guests are expected to help pay the salaries of the people who work in the establishment you are patronizing. And here I thought that's what the check we wrote for the tickets was for.

Here are Grant, John and myself at the Farewell Dinner, held on the next-to-last night of the cruise.

Grant and I at the Captain's Farewell Dinner. Grant seemed to be enjoying himself, and whenever he did, I was happy.

Lynn McDuff was a delight throughout the cruise, and I would get a chance to thank her the next day when we went into Nassau. But tonight, she figured prominently in many of my pictures.

Lynn McDuff and Grant

(Picture at left) From the very first day when she met Grant, she has been as true as her word; she and Grant have spent a good deal of time together. The way she is looking at him in this picture tells me that she sees the same strength and style in him that I do, and that she is also marveling that he can be so good-natured in the face of the illness that is confronting him. I know she has some experience with HIV patients, and I think she believes that Grant is a standout among them. She is a treasure; her husband is very lucky.     (Picture at right) It occurred to me, once I saw these pictures, that Lynn looked like Princess Diana.

Lynn and I

Patty took this picture of Lynn and Grant.

Patty also took this picture, adding Don and I with Lynn and Grant.

Here are the final two pictures from the Farewell Dinner, and the last two pictures for this sea day aboard ship:

Don and Grant at the Captain's Farewell Dinner

Lynn and Her Mother at Their Table in the Dining Room

I didn't get to know Lynn's mother very well, as we just played cards together a few times. But she seems like very much the 1990s woman; she has her values and standards and she sticks by them, but she is not afraid of new experiences, she is not afraid to let her daughter live her own life, and she is caring towards all people, no matter what their life choices might be. She was vivacious and full of fun every time I saw her, and she was quite a good bridge player, too.

I also want to say that this evening Grant impressed me even more with the way he has dealt with HIV; I hope that should something similar happen to me, I will have the same inner strength to meet it head on and deal with it as best I can. If nothing else, it will be old age, and I hope I handle it with the same style and grace that Grant has handled HIV. I don't know how much time we might have, but I suspect that things are coming to a head, since the KS appears to be slowly worsening. God knows I am going to miss Grant when that time comes.

You can use the links below to continue to another page for our cruise, or return to the cruise index page so you can continue through the photo album.

	October 25, 1991: A Visit to Nassau, Bahamas
	October 23, 1991: A Day in San Juan, Puerto Rico
	Return to the Caribbean Cruise Index