WRITING WHILE CRUISING

Writing on a cruise can be expensive. Not the writing part, but the Internet connection. I needed to turn in an article this morning. It costs either $.75 a minute pay-as-you-go or $55 for 110 minutes plus a $3.95 first time connection fee. The wireless connection allows me to check my emails throughout the trip, write offline then log on and send whatever I need. Or, it allows my husband to check his hundreds of emails – mostly junk!

We’ve been on probably twelve cruises since my husband retired in 1996 and one before that time. We ran into Hurricane Gordon on that first cruise. Thank goodness I’d been forewarned to take Dramamine three days before we left. I didn’t feel great in those 48 foot swells but never got sick. Another time we hit the tail end of a typhoon on our way to Japan. Again, I didn’t get sick. However, on this trip to Alaska, I failed to follow the directions and am not feeling great. Once the Dramamine kicks in, I should be fine.

One thing about cruising – on a day at sea like today, I have no place to go and no distractions to keep me from writing. Actually, our 525 group of Dixieland Jazz enthusiasts follow three bands around the ship’s venues for most of the day and night. That means writing time is short or I miss music. Sometimes, a little music goes a long way and I need a break. There are other activities, but I choose to use the time writing.

Excursions offer plenty of fodder. Having taken this cruise before, I won’t need to repeat those excursions. I can write about what I saw on the last trip.

So, rather than spend writing time in a cabin, hotel or other get-away place, I’m looking out the window at sun shining on the ocean as we cruise to Glacier Bay, Alaska. I have two days at sea and plenty of writing time.