Someone asked if there were pictures of the boat online. There are:
Click
http://www.travelpride.com/published/vacations/it06generalinfo.html for info about this specific cruise and look for a link to a Virtual Tour of the ship.
Click
http://www.windstarcruises.com/ for pictures of the ship under sail from the cruise line's website.
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Wednesday was our day at sea, sailing from Portovecchio to Ponza, an island off the Italian coast. While the weather was extremely hot in Nice, once we got on to the sea things cooled down a lot, and we had perfect weather the entire trip.
Wednesday there was an incredibly strong wind in the afternoon, so strong that the Captain announced he was putting out all sails and turning off the engine. We were able to continue at about 10 knots under wind power alone, which is a lot, for the ship's top speed using the engines is only 12 knots!
A word about the Captain: he was tall, charming, British and extremely sexy. He and his girlfriend, who lived with him on board, loved our group and took part in lots of our activities. He had a very relaxed manner and a good sense of humor. I hope to be able to post pictures of him after I figure out how to capture images from the DVD of the cruise. [Edit: I've attached two pics of him below]
I spent the day sunning by the pool, or reading a book on an outdoor lounging chair, or "chaise" as my mother would call them. The wind was too strong for some, but I loved it, and particulaly going to the front of the ship and getting the wind directly toward me. Passengers weren't allowed to go all the way forward to the bow sprit, that little extension at the very tip of the ship that hangs out over the water. You know, the place were DiCaprio stood in Titanic and screamed "I'm king of the world!"
Going there and shouting "I'm queen of the world!" was one of my goals and I kept looking for an opportunity to privately ask the captain if I could go out there, even if only for 5 or ten minutes. If that didn't work, I was scheming to go out their in the middle of the night sometime. Only problem is that the ship's Bridge looks directly at the bow sprit so I didn't think I'd get away with it.
I got a tour of the bridge on Wednesday. A very large room that spans the width of the ship with so many buttons, dials, gauges, switches and computer monitors one would think you could fly to the moon from there. I learned there that the reason they never were able to use the aft-most sail (there are 5 masts and 7 sails altogether) is that they just had it replaced and it was made too thick for the automated doo-hickey that unfurls it ("doo-hickey" is one of those nautical terms I learned on board
), and each sail costs $50,000. That's right, fifty-thou for a single piece of triangular material!
I joined 3 others for dinner at the "alternative" restaurant on board, called the Bistro. It's much smaller than the main dining room, and so one must make reservations for it. It wasn't any better in terms of food than the main restaurant, and it was a lot noisier, so we all agreed it was a once-per-cruise experience.
I think Wed. night was the Toga Party: Travelpride supplied sheets and instructions for wrapping them around you to make them into togas. I didn't go to it, or any of the theme parties... I was in bed by 11p every night. But I heard from others -- and saw it on the DVD last night -- that one young man from Australia was a belly dancer, and he appeared in full belly-dancing regalia, including a chain of bangles that extended from his pierced ear to his pierced nose.
There was a midnight skinny-dipping party every night (and the top-most deck was declared the "clothing optional" deck for tanning. As I said, the Captain had a very relaxed attitude!).
Finally in today's report, I want to tell you about the Buff Twins. These two lovers were extremely muscular and extremely identical: height, weight, and all measurements: even their pecs were exactly the same (huge) size. One never appeared without the other, and they always wore matching clothes, either identical or the inverse color-wise. So if one was wearing nothing but little tie-up sailor short-shorts that were navy blue with white stripes, the other had on a white one with navy blue stripes. They didn't have separate wardrobes anymore: their physiques were so identical all clothes were for both of them. I caught a glimpse of 'em naked on the tanning deck, and the only way they differed was in their nether regions, with one being better endowed than the other.
I never got a chance to talk with them at length, but others told me they were sweet if a bit empty-headed. They had been together for over a decade, and I was very curious as to how they met. They give the phrase "a perfect match" new meaning and it was heart-warming to see them together. A picture of the Buff Twins is another one I hope to be able to post sometime soon.
Tomorrow is Thursday, and I'll report about the Thursday of the cruise. I'm really sorry I wasn't able to do so from the ship. I know this is anti-climatic coming after the fact....
Ciao,
ImpishNotAtSeaAnyLonger
