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Ah well, it was a nice holiday while it lasted!
It wasn't a very entertaining cruise, tbh, just a day from Sydney up to Brisbane, a day that should have been spent on an island up there, and then a day travelling back.
Unfortunately, it being midwinter down here, we had a storm cell that pretty much followed us up the coast, so there were some pretty rough seas - significant rolling. And when we got to Tangalooma (Moreton Island) near Brisbane, they weren't able to run the tenders (small boats) out to the island and back because of the danger of rough seas, particulaly in the afternoon when the weather from south was due to catch up to us. As a result, it was pretty much three days entirely on the ship. Bummer.
Still, the ship was pretty cool for an introvert: plenty of places to sit, social things to do if you wanted to - quizzes and bingo and cocktail lessons and whiskey tastings, spaces to kickback and read or write or watch movies (they had a few movies showing on the TV and on the 'big screen' - really just a conference room with seats and a projection screen). I'd already let the women I was travelling with know that if they wanted to do something and I didn't, then I was perfectly okay with them going off and doing it, and I'd meet them back up for the next meal. And that worked out pretty well for all of us, I think.
I have to say, I'd go on cruises more for the company than for the cruise itself, unless I wanted some concentrated time away from my house and responsibilities. The women I were with were all married and mothers, and so for them the pleasure was as much in having time where they didn't have the usual responsibilities of household management as in being in a new location. They can watch the movies they want to watch, they don't have to think about cleaning up after a meal or cleaning the cabin, and they can sit with a cup of tea or coffee and just stare out the window without having someone need help with homework or lost wallets or whining about dinner. So they definitely enjoyed that, and I enjoyed the chance to hang out with some women that I like and admire, which isn't something that happens a great deal because our lives don't entirely dovetail in terms of stage-of-life.
Bed before 10am wasn't unusual for me on the cruise - I'd just crash out by 10am. The first night, I think I crashed immediately after dinner, which was early - as in, around 8pm. We think it might have been the seasickness, because the next few nights were also pretty early nights. I regularly woke up around 5am, and tended to get up and do some writing then. Got a couple of thousand words added, which is more than I've managed in ages.
For those of you wondering about the dress:
And the party illustrated quite clearly the difference between costuming and cosplay for me. It was a costume party, not a cosplay party. I'm used to people who want some attempt at accuracy, even if it's not 100% period-correct. Most of the dresses were bought/hired, lots of fringe and feathers, not a great deal of accuracy. And, unfortunately, my cruisemates went for an early night that night, so I went out for only about 30 mins, stayed to listen to some jazz, then headed back. Not so much fun when you're on your lonesome.
Unfortunately, the pic I've put up doesn't show the beading work that I did on the dress - more organic and winding, less Deco, but I didn't have the bugle beads I wanted for accuracy. Next time I wear it, perhaps?
Now it's back to work and the daily scrub. Ugh.
I am thinking about changing around my sleeping habits though - go to bed around 10-10:30pm, wake up 5:30am and write until it's time to head out for work at 6:30am. I'm waking up at 5:30am anyway, when the gas heater turns on, so why not use the time and space?
It wasn't a very entertaining cruise, tbh, just a day from Sydney up to Brisbane, a day that should have been spent on an island up there, and then a day travelling back.
Unfortunately, it being midwinter down here, we had a storm cell that pretty much followed us up the coast, so there were some pretty rough seas - significant rolling. And when we got to Tangalooma (Moreton Island) near Brisbane, they weren't able to run the tenders (small boats) out to the island and back because of the danger of rough seas, particulaly in the afternoon when the weather from south was due to catch up to us. As a result, it was pretty much three days entirely on the ship. Bummer.
Still, the ship was pretty cool for an introvert: plenty of places to sit, social things to do if you wanted to - quizzes and bingo and cocktail lessons and whiskey tastings, spaces to kickback and read or write or watch movies (they had a few movies showing on the TV and on the 'big screen' - really just a conference room with seats and a projection screen). I'd already let the women I was travelling with know that if they wanted to do something and I didn't, then I was perfectly okay with them going off and doing it, and I'd meet them back up for the next meal. And that worked out pretty well for all of us, I think.
I have to say, I'd go on cruises more for the company than for the cruise itself, unless I wanted some concentrated time away from my house and responsibilities. The women I were with were all married and mothers, and so for them the pleasure was as much in having time where they didn't have the usual responsibilities of household management as in being in a new location. They can watch the movies they want to watch, they don't have to think about cleaning up after a meal or cleaning the cabin, and they can sit with a cup of tea or coffee and just stare out the window without having someone need help with homework or lost wallets or whining about dinner. So they definitely enjoyed that, and I enjoyed the chance to hang out with some women that I like and admire, which isn't something that happens a great deal because our lives don't entirely dovetail in terms of stage-of-life.
Bed before 10am wasn't unusual for me on the cruise - I'd just crash out by 10am. The first night, I think I crashed immediately after dinner, which was early - as in, around 8pm. We think it might have been the seasickness, because the next few nights were also pretty early nights. I regularly woke up around 5am, and tended to get up and do some writing then. Got a couple of thousand words added, which is more than I've managed in ages.
For those of you wondering about the dress:
And the party illustrated quite clearly the difference between costuming and cosplay for me. It was a costume party, not a cosplay party. I'm used to people who want some attempt at accuracy, even if it's not 100% period-correct. Most of the dresses were bought/hired, lots of fringe and feathers, not a great deal of accuracy. And, unfortunately, my cruisemates went for an early night that night, so I went out for only about 30 mins, stayed to listen to some jazz, then headed back. Not so much fun when you're on your lonesome.
Unfortunately, the pic I've put up doesn't show the beading work that I did on the dress - more organic and winding, less Deco, but I didn't have the bugle beads I wanted for accuracy. Next time I wear it, perhaps?
Now it's back to work and the daily scrub. Ugh.
I am thinking about changing around my sleeping habits though - go to bed around 10-10:30pm, wake up 5:30am and write until it's time to head out for work at 6:30am. I'm waking up at 5:30am anyway, when the gas heater turns on, so why not use the time and space?
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