Wednesday morning, Really Early

Good morning! It is 4:45 a.m. as I sit here in the internet cafe. There is one other insomniac in here with me. It is very quiet.

I think I am probably insomniac because I know it is my last day aboard the Grand Princess and I feel a need to maximize my conscious hours. Sigh. Besides, just before I woke up, I was dreaming about the Brady Bunch. Who wants to go back to sleep into that?? I was probably dreaming about the Brady Bunch because that was one of the themes played at our TV Theme Trivia competition yesterday afternoon. (Yes, of course we won it. Not sure we're so proud of that one, though.) Do you know how hard it is to get the Brady Bunch song out of your head once it's in there?

I don't know why I love cruising so exponentially more than any other kind of vacation I've taken. There is absolutely nothing I don't like about it. I love getting to know the cruise directors, those fun, upbeat people. I love my room steward, Jaime, who greets me by name every time he sees me in the halls (practically tugging his forelock as he does so. Yes, I love that.) and I love how the towels in my bathroom are always arranged in cute shapes. I love trivia games. I love finding live music to listen to almost anytime I want. I love that there is fabulous food available to me whenever I want, and that I had absolutely nothing to do with the preparation of it. I love being entertained when I want, and when I don't, I love reading in a quiet nook by a window, watching the water go by. I love that when I want any of these things, I do not have to get in my car and drive anywhere. It's all right here.

Of course I do miss my family and friends back home. But the same way some retired people are called Snowbirds because they live six months of the year at home and the rest in some sunny place, I would love to be a Cruisebird. It is a wonderful dream, unfortunately not backed up by sufficient wherewithal or an equally enthusiastic spouse. RH enjoys cruising, but he does not share my obsession with it.

And so, after a few days in Mt. Tremblant, I will be home on Sunday, back in realityland. But for now, I'm going to go get a cup of tea and curl up with my book and wait for the rest of my crew to get up so we can go explore Quebec City. Don't know what the weather is like out there because it's still too dark to see! But I think the forecast was reasonably good. Bye for now!