HOME AGAIN!

By Joanne Peterson

The Beacon

A classmate who also is my travel agent recently invited some of her local clients to attend a Sunday lunch in Seattle. That would have been pleasant enough, but what made the event extraordinary was that it took place aboard a Holland America cruise ship, The Westerdam.

Furthermore, it took place at the same time passengers were assembling for an Alaskan cruise, to begin that afternoon. Quite the organizational marvel.

Clutching our passports and pretending our stay would be longer than three hours, we boarded The Westerdam.

Of course, a cruise line aims to interest previous travelers in signing on for another cruise. One way to do that is to show off all available accommodations.

So, armed with maps and cabin numbers, we wandered the ship, locating the open-door cabins set aside for our inspection. Otherwise, Im sure none of us ever would have the opportunity to view every category of on-board accommodation.

Luncheon guests saw each type of cabin, from the plainest inside one (which looks as if it has a large window behind those big curtains on the wall!) to the penthouse suite with its own hot tub on its own verandah with its own private view of the world and with an interior featuring too many posh touches to mention. Sigh.

(The young crewmember near the door pointed out that no matter how many cabins are empty, the penthouse suites are always occupied on every cruise. This substantiated my theory that when times are difficult for most people, the ones who had a great deal of money still have that money and can take elaborate vacations. Thats just my theory.)

It was great fun to wander the beautiful Westerdam. At the appointed time, we walked to the dining room where we were seated with other members of our travel agents group and greeted by attentive waiters, who presented menus with a flourish.

While we unfolded our linen napkins, servers poured wine. Honestly, it was difficult to remember that we were basically tourists and would shortly be escorted off the ship!

I wont describe the food, except to say it was a delicious reminder that cruise passengers never go hungry, meals always are beautifully presented, and service is a hundred times better than theyd ever get at home.

Then, at about the time we would have enjoyed meandering to our cabins, we had to disembark, turning in our identification badges as we exited the ship.

At that point I felt distinctly different from the jolly passengers being photographed as they streamed aboard up a gently sloping incline, headed for their Alaskan cruise.

Our group? With no ships photographer the least bit interested in us, the luncheon guests stepped cautiously down the steep and narrow ramp reserved for the crew.

In 20 minutes the parking lot shuttle picked us up, at about the time music started drifting from the Lido deck.