Princess Patter

In other cruise news...

One night after dinner, the captain started speaking over the loudspeaker which is played in every room and every corner of the ship. Was it another whale? Um no, apparently we had an outbreak of H1N1, that's right- 25 people had been quarantined with Swine Flu. Mom, Radu and I glared at my dad and sister, who were sniffling, coughing and sneezing, but they healed pretty fast, so apparently weren't the carrier monkeys.

Another night, during dinner at the fancy Italian restaurant for which there was a cover charge and where there were no vegetarian options (my sister received a look of utter shock and a stammer in response when she inquired) there was yet another announcement. "CODE ALPHA CODE ALPHA" and then a deck and floor number. We had a somewhat entertaining evening imagining how they deal with a dead body on board and the nightmare that must be the captain's life this week (and did later confirm that Code Alpha means a medical emergency)

Now imagine what could've happened if there was a 13th deck? Yes that's right, the ship's floors went from 12 to 14. Apparently American cruisers are superstitious...