Just Cruisin' Around. . . .

     Would you look at us now!  We've taken our first cruise!  It was just a little one, and only as far away as Thailand, but at least now we know what it's like. Cruising, I mean, not Thailand.  To tell the truth, we don't actually know what Thailand is like, at least not based on this cruise.  The ship spent one day in Phuket and another in Khrabi, but we chose not to disembark at either.  We've been to Phuket and didn't love it.  So, we decided to just stay onboard and get some badly needed rest-and-relaxation.  

In fact, the closest we got to Thailand's famed elephants was this folded-towel one, made by our cabin boy. (The written message said, "Well come to Thailand."  The unwritten one said, "Please give me a tip at the end of the cruise.")  We'd already ridden elephants here and there in Asia, so we didn't feel that we needed to do that again.

 We also got some serious sunburn, especially Hubby, though we're not quite sure how that happened, considering that we carefully avoided lying in the sun.  I guess the sunlight must have reflected off the pool.  It was really cold, that pool!

          We really enjoyed the various nightly entertainments, especially on the final night, the night of the Gala. The troupe was mostly Belarusians, all excellent dancers. I'd seen good Russian dancers on TV, but it was fun to see them up close and personal.


   One thing we did notice is that everywhere, all the time, ship staff were trying to sell us beverages, both alcoholic and not.  They must work mostly on commission because they never stopped trying to get us to buy wine, blended fruit juices, etc.  We caved in the first afternoon, buying a pair of bottles of wine that were kept for us so we could request that they be served to us anytime, anywhere.  It's really a good system, that "bottle keep" onboard system.  


    Would we go cruising again?  Certainly!  But not for a very long time.  We'd look like blimps from overeating if we did!