The captain
says the tide of pestilence is receding aboard the Rotterdam but he is keeping
the restrictions in place until we have two days with no new illness. He pleads
with us every day to wash our hands. He directed us to call the front desk and
stay in our cabins if we become ill. He doesn’t want us in the infirmary. He
will send someone from the infirmary to see us in our rooms. Room service is
available around the clock so that’s no problem.
Yesterday we
ran into one of Bill’s laundry friends and she said she had the illness twice.
All of our other friends seem fine. We feel fine.
Bill does our
laundry at home and on board ship. He calls himself a Laundry Professional because
he served in the ship’s laundry for a few months when he was in the Navy.
My German
ancestors sailed to New Orleans about the year 1700 aboard one of the Pest Ships. Half
the people died of illness before they ever reached Louisiana.
I read a book
this week about the New Orleans slave uprising of 1811. (American Uprising
by Rasmussen). By that time, the French and Spanish greatly outnumbered the
Germans in the area. It was the French planters who overpowered the slaves and
ended the rebellion.
I have German, French and Spanish ancestors from the area and
am indirectly related to the slaves, too.
After I
synced up my Kindle Fire over the internet, my library books suddenly became
available again. I thought the library books had some kind of encryption and
that they would self-destruct when they were due. However, it seems that they
stay viable until they regain contact with the internet. Is that cool or what?
As far as our
trip, I have never been aboard a ship that was better managed than the
Rotterdam. The crew has been fantastic. The illness caused them to take over
positions that they normally don’t do. Our dinner time waiter helped out with
the tender duties for example. Some of the entertainment staff served food in
the Lido.
The staff is
super competent on this ship. We have sent our laundry out twice and it was
back within 24 hours. That’s pretty quick considering that they are doing all
the extra laundry required by the GI outbreak as well as the underwear for 2500
people. The food is routinely fabulous. The Digital Workshop teacher helped to
write the new curriculum for the internet classes. The Internet manager has
tweaked the connection and it has greatly improved.
Currently, I
am reading a book about Isaac Newton, the gravity guy, who had a forgotten career at the British Mint. He solved a monetary crisis and tracked down
“coiners”. It is called Newton and the Counterfeiter by Levenson. I love the early history about Newton's math and physics experiments.
I finished Panicology
by Briscoe and Williams. It outlines which modern threats are worth worrying
about and which aren’t.
Along with
lectures on astronomy, we enjoy the lectures on the places we are visiting as
well as birds, sea creatures, climate, and nature in general. A new lecturer is
starting today with tips on photography. The lectures are taped and play
continuously on channel 27. You can’t tell when they will be aired unless you
ask the crew, however.
