A Day At Sea

[Cruise Day 3:  July 6, 2018]

We are at sea today, all day and all night, traveling toward Tallinn, Estonia—690 nautical miles away.  All passengers are onboard  today and every deck is teeming with people, especially  Deck 6 and Deck 15.  The casino is open and doing a big business.  All kinds of activities are being offered onboard today.  Bingo and other games are happening all around.  There is Yoga, Mini Golf, Shuffleboard, and Rock Climbing opportunities, along with indoor cycling, a ping pong tournament, the pools, hot tubs, and even basketball in the gym, the jogging path and the giant water slide,  are all available.  There are seminars, too, such as “How to Run a Floating Hotel Q&A” and various arts and crafts classes. The dining rooms were filled at breakfast and lunch and I suspect it will be the same for dinner.  The dining hours have been extended to allow for this.  All kinds of entertainment is scheduled for the evening hours, too,  from Broadway plays in the several theaters to various musical programs and dancing opportunities in the various bars and clubs.  What a life!

But it is not my life!  I am not a gambler, or a rock climber.  I’m not interested in water sports.  I do not jog, not at home and not on a ship,  even though I ought to do so.  I’m not into ping pong (though I was, once upon a time)  card playing or bingo, and I’m not the “artsy-crafty” type.  I get up early and go to bed early.  I’m not much of a party-animal after 9 p.m.—and truth be told, I’m not much of a party-animal before that hour.  I’m sure you are wondering then why on earth I am on a cruise ship.  I’m here because I want to visit Estonia, Germany and Russia (even though I have visited these two countries before), Finland, Sweden and Denmark. I want to experience the people and the cultures of these countries.  I want to step foot on their sacred soil.  I want to know what they feel and think and wonder about.  I want to be part of a larger world.

It dawns on me just now that I have what I want on this particular cruise ship.  Unlike other cruise ships on which I’ve sailed from U.S. ports (to Alaska, Hawaii, the Caribbean and Mexico) the passengers on this ship come from all over the world!  Wherever I go onboard ship I hear different languages being spoken.  There is a woman from India sitting across from me and I think the fellow that just passed by me was from Australia, given his accent.  I met a couple on the elevator just a while ago from Dubai. When an announcement is made on ship it is often announced in English, Spanish, German, French, Italian and/or Russian.  The ship’s crew is an international one.  They come from China, Yugoslavia, the Philippines, Indonesia, St. Lucia, and so many other places.  The passengers and the crew represent the world—the world  Jesus told us God loved and continues to love.  I wanna be…Part of that world!

The newest and the highest skyscraper in
St. Petersburg, Russia.