Which is, I guess, part of the sense of dislocation which takes place on these huge machines called cruise ships. They are a kind of city-state unto themselves. Their size is overwhelming...and they certainly overwhelm any small port they access.
And, then, there is the dominant culture which is that of a beach resort...a kind of Ocean City, Maryland. People claiming their favorite lounge chair for a day in the sun, making forays from time to time to the buffet, dropping into the pool to cool off, then back to the sunlight.
But, then, this also takes place against the backdrop of being in a city scape...riding into a port of a capital city like Athens or a town like Dubrovnik.
So where is one when on a cruise ship...a kind of neither here nor there which is not necessarily bad...it simply tips the scale on what one may considered to be normal. Which is what a vacation for most people is about, no?
And then also are all those familiar locales: the library, the "card room" for playing games...open 24 hours, the gym, the restaurants, the "night clubs", the movies all reached on one of the ten floors devoted to guest activities.
Still what is amazing after six or seven days is just to be sitting having a cup of coffee...on the 12th floor above the level of the sea, watching an island go by or a port city on display, and considering the perspective...at times, I have felt, as great as sitting on a rock at the edge of the Grand Canyon, and contemplating time, space, and one's own existence.
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Location:On the Jade....
