Two days of Sea Days

I love sea days.  Not everyone does, but they are truly some of the most enjoyable days to me.  Now don’t get me wrong, I love a port and all of the exploration that occurs but I feel like sea days give me a chance to reflect and appreciate, truly absorb, when port days are often running around trying to see the highlight reel of a city.

It also means early morning hot tub and coffee time on my voyages, although that really only happened a handful of times on this 12 night sailing.  But both the last 2 days started with a 6 flight descent down to Cafe Biacco on Deck 5, followed by a climb back up to the hot tubs on deck 10, to soak and sip.  I almost always manage to find time to myself as most passengers seem to have a different morning routine.

Early on in this trip, I started ordering two lattes each morning.  One vanilla and one regular.  Why limit yourself of what you love, and I LOVE coffee.  The ships cafe is far from the best coffee bars, but the service is always friendly.

Sea days on this trip were also highlighted by the 12:30p “Fag Brunch” and our group kept expanding with fellow LGBTQ+ travelers and allies.  The biggest count that participated in brunch was 11 or 12 and turned into a nearly two hour affair.

The food was good.  The company and conversation was excellent.  I met so many wonderful people on this trip.  Kiran, Alex, Ben, Tito, Stevie, Adam, Julian and Jackie were the core group, but it expanded to include Anthony and Gabriel and another couple from SF, who I didn’t personally have an opportunity to get to know very well (obviously) but became friends with others and thus were around frequently!

We watched the shows, they played board games, we gambled, silent discoed, danced, drank and enjoyed all that life had to offer us.  Bound by a ship and a 12-night cruise, now friends for this game we call life.

As I had mentioned before, so much “love” around me on this trip.  Three of the core groups of friends were on their honeymoon’s.  It was fun and a good reminder that Love and Dreams are out there, somewhere.

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I saw this sign in Hong Kong and had to jaywalk across the steep and narrow street to take a selfie with it.  Apparently, Love and and Dreams are for sale too, at least in Hong Kong!

A friend recently commented that I need to stop running away.  I replied I am not running away.  I hope I am running to something.  The future is ahead of me, not in the past.  (Careful choice of words there, I didn’t say behind me intentionally cause the naughty gay readers would have a field day if I left that out there for interpretation 💁🏻‍♂️)

So there you have it.  Twelve nights aboard the Celebrity Millennium.  It went by so quickly.  It was so much fun.  It may very well have been my favorite continental visit yet!

Next up, a full day in Singapore once I disembark from the ship, including a stay at the famous Marina Bay Sands.  Then I’ll start the journey home, a 31 hour affair.  Singapore to Tokyo.  Tokyo to Dallas. Dallas to GJT.

One final thought, this year has been filled with a lot of music.  Here’s one of my new favorite quotes:

“There’s making a living and then there’s making a life.” - Parker McCollum - Lessons from an Old Man.

Cole from Colorado

Making a life!