Day At Sea

Cruise Day 3

When I woke in the morning, Michael was the perfect picture of misery. Again, he hadn't slept; he had a headache and a pain in his kidney (where he'd recently had surgery) and his sinuses were killing him. It seemed like we'd have to go to the infirmary.

As it happens, neither Michael nor I are strangers to cruise ship infirmaries. On our first cruise, Mary got injured and wound up in one. And so, as I took Michael there, I couldn't help but make comparisons (Monarch waiting room chairs nicer and more comfortable; doctor more solicitous even though he seemed convinced that Michael was suffering from some weird variant of seasickness). They hooked Michael up to an IV and I promised to come back after breakfast. (Just because Michael was too sick to eat didn't mean I was!)

Although it was still raining, through the windows of Windjammer I could see patches where the sun was at least trying to come out. That would be good; Zach still hadn't been able to climb the rock wall. But he and I returned to the health club for another workout; this time Zach wanted to try the resistance machines so I showed him how each one worked and he'd give it a try.

We then took a stroll around the ship (the rock wall was still too wet to use).

By now everyone had visited Michael in the infirmary; Surya and I had each sat with him for a spell. The doctor diagnosed sinusitis and administered a broad-spectrum antibiotic that would clear any infection in his kidney as well. We watched The Bourne Ultimatum on the TV while waiting for his IV bag to empty.

Meanwhile, Karen took Zach and came upon the rock wall during the brief time it was open. Zach unintentionally took the most difficult face and only made it two-thirds of the way—but other climbers, adults, could make it that far. This is, you should know, a 200 foot wall. 133 feet of that is quite respectable. Still, Zach wanted to return.

At 2 PM he had an "ice cream date" with Surya at the Ben and Jerry's located in the ship's shopping mall.

By dinner time I had gotten Michael out of the infirmary and we met the others at Vincent's, once more at the head of the line. And, once more, the magnets failed to hold the doors open on the first few tries. What was really interesting, was that the waiter, the same guy who'd had this problem our first night out, seemed to be just as surprised and unprepared as he'd been the first time.

Dinner was, as usual, delicious. I told our waiter that Karen's birthday was coming up, and they gave her a special desert and sang "Happy Birthday".

We were done eating by 8:15pm, which gave Zach and I a little time to take a final dip in the Jacuzzi (and he enjoyed the heated wave pool, which I found to be too chilly to go in but he and other kids had a terrific time). We left promptly at 8:45 and changed back into dry clothes—I have never worn so many outfits in a day before in my life!—to meet at the Circuit, the club at which they have karaoke.

As usual at these places, if you really want to sing you've got to get there early, before shyer folk get drunk enough to volunteer. I was astounded that out of 4000 songs they didn't have any Jimmy Buffett; but the mistress of ceremonies rotated me with two brave kids (with very good voices) and I sang "Desperado", "Bless The Beasts and the Children", and "You've Got A Friend". Then Barbara and Peter got brave (without alcohol, I should add) and we harmonized on "Bridge Over Troubled Waters".

By then we were ready to go, Surya willing to join in a four-part rendition of "The Rose". But now everyone else in the sizable venue was ready to sing, too; and they only had an hour and a half before another event was scheduled to start. That was disappointing; on the Legend, Karaoke went on for hours. It has to, because it takes a while to get going.

But we had to get back to our rooms. Unlike the Legend, which allowed us to disembark in a fairly leisurely fashion, we were expected to vacate the Monarch no later than 9 AM, depending on what color our baggage tags were. We also had to put our bags out by midnight, meaning we would need to keep something to wear the next day in our carry-ons. So Michael and I packed and made it to sleep by midnight, knowing we'd be receiving a wakeup call at 7 in the morning.