Still farther southwest of Seattle, en route to Hawaii: You’ll remember I wrote about rough water off the western coast of the US? Well, this isn’t the usual coastal roughness. We have been rocking and rolling now for at least 30 hours, with no end in immediate sight.
Taking a shower with the sea pitching and heaving is … challenging … to say the least. When you have to keep one hand free to hold onto a grab bar, and can only soap up with the other, compromises become inevitable. Falling isn’t a good outcome.
The view out my window could be mistaken for the North Atlantic. I’d estimate the swells out there are 12-15 feet trough to crest, and the Westerdam is rolling side-to-side up to eighteen inches in spite of the stabilizers. Compounding the problem is that the captain, having sailed maybe 6 hours late, can’t adjust the course and lower the speed to make it easier, things he would normally do. So, on we plow, rocking and rolling as noted above.
Days like yesterday and today are why cruising isn’t for everyone. Yes, you are resident in a luxury ‘hotel’ with meals and entertainment included, but said ‘hotel’ is at the mercy of the elements and out on the briny deep those elements can be uncomfortably energetic.
It is no accident most travel for business or simply to “get there” is by air. We who cruise are volunteers who put up with the odd motions and have a good time in spite of it.
Virtually all cruise lines staff the “hotel” side of the crew mostly with youngish people from less-developed nations. Holland America, true to its Dutch beginnings, utilized mostly Indonesians as that nation is a former Dutch colony. US cruise lines utilize many Filipinos as that’s a former US colony.
When we first started cruising in earnest we’d meet a fair number of Eastern Europeans as crew, waiting tables and tending bar. That has become less common as those nations joined the EU and found opportunities closer to home.
Later … I am on deck five and I just saw sea-spray fly past my window. That isn’t trivial. I’ve seen rougher water on 3-4 occasions but today’s experience is one of those to be remembered.
