Chapter 4

Most people have thoughts that are constantly running through their minds. One of the more frequent thoughts in Jerry’s mind was how he could find female companionship. That thought then became coupled with this cruise award that Ben had given Jerry. Maybe if Jerry did a cruise, it would help him solve the problem of his lack of female companionship.

To that end, he started surfing the net and reading comments about singles that went on cruise ships.

One suggestion was that cruises during the summer months attracted more single women than cruises done during the other months. That was because teachers were off for the summer, which enabled them to go on cruises. Another comment was that the longer the cruise, the older the clientele was on the cruise. He could not find any cruise itineraries going into and out of the Panama Canal during the summer months.

Summarizing all that he had found in doing this surfing gave him the thought that he was ready to start cruising. Jerry phoned Jane, the office manager at Bud Palmer’s office. He discussed the cruise gift from Bud that she was aware of. He asked if this cruise could be a ten-day cruise departing from San Francisco and going to Alaska instead of a cruise leaving from Florida. Jane said that was no problem. Jerry gave the month of July as when he preferred to do this cruise. She said she would make the booking, and after doing it she would tell him where to go to enter the information the cruise line required.

Before going on his cruise, Jerry continued to add retail sales locations. He was adding locations in Indianapolis or its surrounding area. With school now being out for the summer, he was pleased to see his three salespeople were adding sales locations as well.

If asked, Jerry would admit he was a little excited to be going on his first cruise. He continued to peruse websites to see what the comments were, both pro and con on cruising. He noted the hints given to make a cruise enjoyable.

There were no problems flying to San Francisco and catching the courtesy van to the pier. He was amazed at the size of this ship since it would be home to two thousand plus passengers and a crew of about half that number. The boarding process was well organized. There was an announcement that the cabins would be available after two.

After boarding this ship, Jerry did a walking tour to become familiar with it and discovered a few things. Many guests already on board were in the Lido restaurant chowing down. There seemed to be more women than men, but there were also families with children on board. The casino and shops were closed but indicated they would open after the ship left the pier. The mandatory “Abandon Ship” required drill, Jerry heard a guest refer to it, was scheduled for one-half hour before it was “anchor’s away” at four pm. He passed on having something to eat and fighting the crowd. Instead, he had a drink in the Sky lounge and watched the baseball game on the television.

Having done the unpacking and the lifeboat drill, he watched the ship pull away from the pier and head out to sea. The skyline of San Francisco was scenic, causing him to take a few pictures with his phone. Jerry had a cocktail in the Dolphin Lounge before he went to the main dining room for the evening meal. It was “anytime” dining in this large dining room. He asked for a table for one. He was seated at a table for two at the rear of the dining area. He felt a little uncomfortable sitting by himself in this dining room.

After a good meal, he left the dining area and went to the main auditorium to watch the evening entertainment. This entertainment was the cruise director introducing various members of his staff who were showcasing their talents. The director promoted his orientation briefing on what to expect during this cruise that he would be giving tomorrow morning.

After making a minor donation at the slot machines, Jerry visited all the lounges to see what the action was in each of them. One lounge had a live band, while the others had disk jockeys. There was dancing in all the lounges, but he passed on doing any of that and decided to call it a night.

The second day’s schedule was to be a full day at sea. Jerry had a late breakfast in the Lido restaurant before attending the orientation given by the cruise director. While it was light-hearted and informative, Jerry thought it was one big sales pitch. The tours to sign up for, the services on the cruise ship like the Spa and beauty shop, the shops to visit both on and off this cruise ship and the restaurants on board available for dining at an extra charge were all discussed.

At the orientation, Jerry was sitting in a row next to two older ladies. When the cruise director ended giving his presentation, one of these ladies said to Jerry, “Your first cruise?”

“Yes, how could you tell?”

“I guessed it because of your age and that you were paying attention to what was said. This is our tenth cruise, with two being to Alaska.”

“Since you are a cruise veteran, can you tell me what I need to know that the director did not bother to mention?”

The lady then gave Jerry a wealth of information the director had omitted. She said the food in the main dining room and the Lido restaurant is the same except for a few appetizers and desserts. The internet is expensive and slow on the ship. She recommended using the internet available in the ports of call, which are free or require the cost of a drink to get the login information. The only tour she would recommend was the railroad ride up to White Pass because of its scenery.

She mentioned that the Captain night is tonight, and said that if Jerry didn’t want to dress up for it, he could take a pass and eat in the Lido. She recommended that Jerry attend Captain’s Night since this was his first cruise. She also made other comments about what would be happening on this ship. He thanked her for all of this information.

Although the food on this ship was abundant and delicious, Jerry had a light lunch as he did not want to pack on the pounds. He went to the dolphin deck where the photos of the guests were for sale when they were boarding the ship. Jerry looked at the pictures that had ladies without men, under the assumption that they were single. There were photos of several attractive ladies he would like to get to know better, and he wondered how he could do that.

Even if he were to meet a good-looking woman, nine days might not be enough time to establish the type of relationship he wanted. He sure as hell could not say, “Would you like to go to my cabin and fuck.” He thought that the women in society today had changed their attitude about sex and wondered how he could tap into that. Then again, he thought, women might have the same thoughts about having sex as he was having.

Jerry did not see many pictures of single men. That should indicate single men were at a premium on this ship. If he happened to have a conversation with a desirable woman, he would mention that he was single. He would also throw out the hook that he enjoyed the view from his cabin balcony. He thought that would put the ball on the woman’s side of the court and would wait to see how she would respond. Of course, if this woman also had a cabin with a balcony, the ball would be back on his side of the court. He knew he needed to give more thought to this.