Cruise of Infection (Read 1,751 times)

[Kpatch]

Really, this should be the Author’s Log.

Captain Speaking
This is a true story. On my recent cruise, the captain would make an announcement over the loudspeaker each day and he would always say, in an Italian accent, “This is your Captain Speaking.” He never identified himself by name, so my husband and I started referring to him as Captain Speaking.

Dodat
On our very first Holland America cruise, our cabin steward was a young man named Dodat (pronounced Doh-Daht). I guess Dodat was particularly memorable to my husband and me because there was this one occasion where Dodat apparently didn’t notice our "Do Not Disturb" sign. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination.

Inspiration
I originally came up with the idea for this story during my most recent cruise in December and had planned to write a straight story, not humorous. What set me off on doing a humorous tale of adventure was Victor’s comment to Carly on the show that he and Vivian were going to accompany Philip and Melanie on their honeymoon. That idea was so hilarious to me, that I just had to write it. It made sense for Maggie to be on the cruise, since she and Mickey had planned to go before his death. Then I decided to make Bo and Carly caricatures of themselves, which is what they have become anyway. And Stephanie and Nathan were along for the annoyance factor. Then I had to add Kate's former employee Chris for comic relief.

Speaking of Stephanie, I was alluding to Titanic in the scene where Stephanie tossed The Letter overboard. I was spoofing the scene where Old Rose threw her Heart of the Ocean pendant into the sea. I included the love theme from Titanic (My Heart Will Go On) for effect.

Why Cruise of Infection?
Years ago, there was a famous storyline on Days called Cruise of Deception. (It’s listed whenever you go to the IMDB website.) While I was on my most recent cruise, it seemed like the ship was going overboard (pun unintended) to ensure sanitary conditions, including having antibacterial soap dispensers all over the place. And the media is rife with stories about people getting sick on cruises. Hence, the title Cruise of Infection.

Virtual Reality
I wanted to simulate a real cruise, so I used a lot of activities and settings from my sailings. Never been to Greece, but I have been on a number of ships and, if you have been on a cruise ship, you know that most of them have a Lido Cafe, pool, fitness center, night clubs. The newer ships have sports decks with miniature golf and rock-climbing walls. I used Greek names for some of the common areas to keep that Mediterranean theme going.

Thanks for reading!

Toodles!

[fluffysmom]

I was laughing out loud reading this story! Carly and Bo's conversations were too funny. I really enjoyed the captain's log.