DETOUR - 2GO Travel

Scenes From a CruiseThis page: Scenes from the passenger terminal and from thevessel’s bridge.Opposite page: Children looking out from the deck.At Horizon, we had a filling lunch of crispy pata,chopsuey, cheeseburger, and spaghetti Bolognese. One ofthe advantages of dining at Horizon is that passengers havethe option of either choosing from the viands displayed incatering dishes on the counter or ordering from the menu.We stayed at the café for an hour and Karl and I, who werethe only first-timers in our group, were wondering why wehadn’t left the port yet. We made our way up to the deckto take some photos and were surprised to learn that theship had left the port while we were having lunch. Wejust did not feel it. No rocking movements, no big waves.The vessel was smoothly cruising the sea. This was reallyturning out to be better than I thought.It was after a few hours at sea that I felt the shipmove mildly. I was then safely in my stateroom watchingsatellite TV, as I felt the small waves rocking me to sleep.It was already 5 p.m. when I woke up, feeling revived afterone of the best long naps I’ve had in a long time.After dinner, we headed to Island Fiesta for somecocktails and live entertainment. At night, Island Fiestatransforms into a party place where all passengers canorder drinks from the well-stocked bar and enjoy bandmusic and a comedy act. We ordered a pitcher of daiquiriand watched as the bartender took consecutive orders ofmargaritas, wines, and pitchers of tequila sunrise. Theparty was well on its way and everyone was obviouslyhaving a good time. Song requests for the band pouredin. Two girls started dancing, and towards the end of onesong, the space in front of the stage was crowded. I lookedaround me and saw smiling faces, feet stomping to themusic, couples enjoying drinks, friends laughing. Thesewere the people I saw in the economy bunks on my wayto lunch. I felt sad for them earlier, seeing how they allshared a room. Now, they were having the time of theirlives. They were going home to their families and theywere having a party on the way to their destination. Whatwas there to be sad about?The next morning, the hallways were crowded andbuzzing. People made their way to the front desk, bagsin tow, to check out. We were almost in Cebu. Passengersstarted forming lines at the lobby, ready to disembark thevessel even when we were still 30 minutes away. They78 travel time april - june 2012