Friday, August 12, 2011Tonight's picture was taken in August of 2003 at my parent's house in Los Angeles. Mattie was a live wire and a handful to raise, but not when it came to being by a pool or the ocean. Mattie had a very healthy respect and fear of the water, so I knew he was never going to try to leap in or explore this without one of us. Since I tend to worry about drowning and children by a pool, his temperament and mine were a perfect match. Anycase, what I love about this picture was Peter and Mattie had matching swimming shorts and Mattie always loved pointing this fact out to others.
Quote of the day: We have met with so overwhelming an affliction in the death of our beloved Willie, a being too precious for this earth. All that human skill could do, was done for our sainted boy. I fully believe the severe illness [scarlet fever], he passed through, now, almost two years since, was but a warning to us, that one so pure, was not to remain long here and at the same time, he was lent us a little longer to try us and wean us from a world whose chains were fastening around us; and when the blow came it found us so unprepared to meet it. …He has fulfilled his mission and we are left desolate. When I think over his short but happy childhood, how much comfort, he always was to me, and how fearfully I always found my hopes concentrating on so good a boy as he was - when I can bring myself to realize that he has indeed passed away, my question to myself is, ‘can life be endured?
I have two interesting stories I would like to share with you today. The first story involves our cabin steward. Our steward, Leonila, is from the Philippians. Until yesterday, I really never had the opportunity to talk with her, other than saying hello or requesting something in passing. But yesterday I went out of my way to find her and to thank her for the wonderful elephant made out of folded towels (picture posted on Thursday’s blog) that she left for us in our room. She appreciated being thanked and then started asking me about the picture of Mattie which we have in our room. As I mentioned the other day on the blog, Peter carries this picture of Mattie with him on all his journeys. Any case, Leonila told me she loved the picture and wanted to know how old Mattie was because he has a beautiful face. I then explained to her that Mattie died of cancer at age 7. Not what she was expecting to hear. She was visibly upset and saddened by this news. Of course she wouldn’t know this, but if Mattie were alive, there is NO way Peter and I would have ever gone on a vacation without him! Mattie was an integral part of our lives and the role of parenthood was taken very seriously by both of us.
Leonila and I got to talking and I learned she has three children and is a single mom. Her children live with her mom in the Philippians. She explained that she has worked for the cruise ship for 15 years and works hard in order to provide financially for her children. All of whom are going to college. She says when her third son is finished with college, she will move back home. However, she said that seeing Mattie’s picture reminded her of when her sons were little, and in a way she told me she feels bad for missing out on this portion of their lives. Two of her sons are 18 and the third is 20 years old now. I told her that I understood what she is saying, but I also told her on some level her sons will always be grateful for the sacrifices she makes to give them a good education and a better life. Leonila’s story is very compelling, and I can’t help but feel for most of the staff who works in the cruise ship industry. In a way, the crew is comprised on international folks who are working hard in hopes of achieving what we once called the American dream.
The second story involves our morning wake up. Today was going to be the day we were to sleep in without a 5:30am rising! I was looking forward to getting some sleep since I feel exhausted and wiped out from the cold and rain. However, sleep never happened. At exactly 6:05am, a ship alarm went off. It was actually a frightening way to wake up because Peter and I thought something was WRONG with the ship. The captain came on the audio system to let us know that a 14 year old passenger was MISSING. He went on to tell us the boy’s name, his age, and his cabin number. The captain encouraged the boy to report to deck 6 or to dial 6000 on any ship phone. So this was our first greeting to the morning. Naturally both Peter and I were very disturbed by this news. Within ten minutes after this announcement, again that horrid emergency alarm was sounded and the captain came back on to let us know the boy was found and returned safely to his cabin. This story gets worse, but I will continue it below. At this point Peter and I attempted to go back to sleep. Within 20 minutes, again the emergency alarm is sounded (third time!) and the captain comes on the audio system and announces that another person was reported missing. This time the woman was age 28. Again we learned her name, age, and her cabin number (which was just down the hall from us!). The captain announced that this woman needed to report immediately to deck 6 or call 6000. So by this point we are all awaiting the next announcement. It was like being glued to the radio awaiting information about a natural disaster. After about 10 minutes, the captain came back on (fourth time!) and announced that the woman still had NOT responded or been found. Cruise ships are prepared for all sorts of emergencies and disasters, and at this point, the captain began unfolding the next stage of the emergency process. At 6:30am, the fifth emergency announcement was made in which the captain asked for any passenger who were out of their cabin to return to their cabins immediately. He said this was necessary in order for the crew to do a full search and sweep of the ship. The notion of passengers out of their cabins at 6:30am after several very aggressive tour days was beyond me, but nonetheless, those out of their cabins did return. Again, the captain encouraged this woman to reveal herself if she was on the ship. The captain made a sixth announcement minutes later letting us know that another passenger (who they gave his name and cabin number) was being tracked down for questioning about this 28 year old passenger. By the seventh message, the captain announced that the woman had been found. OH MY GOD!!! I felt like I lived through some sort of crime drama show on the high seas. However, it was a little scary since it was pitch black outside, we were on the Pacific Ocean, and I was in my pajamas. Needless to say, no one on board the ship slept in this morning!
The story about the 14 year old boy was truly disturbing. We learned later in the day when we went to a scholarship at sea program that this boy was actually missing for over 12 hours, but his parents only reported it minutes before the announcement was made at 6:05am. Specifically the boy was missing since 5:30pm on Thursday, but his parents alerted the ship a full 12 hours later. I was actually stunned to hear this news! In my perspective, these parents are negligent and if they had a license to be parents, it should be taken away. Cruise ships are large, they have thousands of passengers on them, and even though the crew is outstanding, parents MUST always be responsible for their children and know where they are at all times. I imagine these parents developed a sense of complacency on board especially since there are extensive programs for children and teens on ships that occupy kids at all hours of the day and night. Yet, it would be my hope that when this child did not come back to go to bed, the parents would have noticed this!!!! It is appalling, anything could have happened to this boy, including falling over board into frigid water.
A missing person aboard a cruise ship is a serious concern. It is the ship’s responsibility to find this person. If this boy or 28 year old girl were not found today, the ship would be unable to leave Alaska waters and head to Victoria, BC. Instead a water search would have begun for these individuals, but with the cold water temperatures, no one can survive more than two hours without developing hyperthermia.
Since we were up early, Peter took some pictures of our day at sea. It was actually cold outside and at times raining. Yet Peter was able to capture the sun trying to break through the clouds.
We attended a cooking demonstration and galley tour this morning. The cooking demonstration was hosted by the ship’s executive chef, Nilo Palma, who was born in the Philippians, and the ship’s maitre d’hotel, Jean Paul Musiu, born in Alsace, France. The camaraderie between these two men was witty, funny, entertaining, and enlightening. We learned to make the following dishes: premium seafood and gin-cured salmon appetizer, classic ceasar salad, flambéed shrimp in a hot and fiery tomato sauce, and Tiramisu. We also learned that in addition to the 2600 passengers, they also have to feed 1100 crew. To do this requires the ship to have SEVEN kitchens and 208 cooking staff who at times are working 24 hours a day. These are just the folks working in the kitchen, there are another 276 staff who are serving the food. The amount of food on a cruise ship is downright overwhelming. In a way, it seems to me we could solve world hunger by just raiding the supplies of a couple of cruise ships. We are talking TONS of food and provisions. Everybody loves particular things about cruise dining. I am actually very simple. They could take all the food away from me, and just give me their freshly baked breads and I would be very happy. To me there is nothing like fresh bread.
After our cooking demonstration, several hundred of us went for a tour of one of the kitchens. As you can see from this picture, the kitchen is spotless and the cleaning regime in this facility is beyond impressive.
As our galley tour came to an end, Peter snapped a picture of my mom and I with Nilo (the executive chef) and Jean Paul (the maitre d’hotel). They were very gracious and more than happy to take pictures.
Later this afternoon, mind you today was a FULL day at sea and the ship keeps you quite busy with activities, we went to a navigation lecture hosted by the senior office on the watch. Who basically appears to be second in command under the captain. This officer gave us a wonderful overview of the responsibility of the ship’s navigational crew and I found it fascinating that cruise ships have a responsibility to respond to any neighboring vessel at sea who is in distress. Our cruise ship, like so many other cruise ships, would be the ideal rescue vessel considering the provisions of food and water, and access to medical care. Most large ships have doctors, nurses, and in some cases operating rooms aboard. What absolutely stunned me however was that the cost of fuel for our seven day cruise is 2 million dollars. I’m speechless!
For my readers who are RED SOX fans, you would be happy to know that the Red Sox nation is alive and well on the high seas. Whether we are on the ship or were in Alaska, people stopped Peter to talk scores and about the team. I honestly have never experienced such a unifying factor between people. Somehow just seeing that Red ‘B’ on his hat is a signal to others that Peter is safe to approach, to talk to, and to engage with in conversation. This doesn’t only happen in Alaska or on this cruise. It is a phenomenon that I have experienced everywhere I go. It is like fans have joined a special club or society, in which they all speak the same sport language and for the most part have some sort of connection to New England.
Tomorrow is the last day of our cruise. The ship docks in Victoria, BC at 7pm. We were scheduled to go on a tour of the famous gardens in Victoria at 7:15pm. The tour would get us back to the ship at 11:15pm. That may not sound bad, but it is awful, when you consider that we have to pack, have our luggage outside our door by tomorrow night, and then have to disembark the ship on Sunday at 7am. I honestly told my parents I did not think I had the energy for this, especially since Sunday involves being on a plane back home to Washington, DC for five hours. I have been raised to try to accomplish as much as possible and learn as much as possible even on a vacation, so I have had to come to peace with the fact that sometimes everything can’t be done. I am also focusing upon the fact that the trip was to see Alaska and we certainly did that fully. It is my hope that someday we will be able to see Victoria, because I have heard that it is simply beautiful and truly memorable.
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