One of our evening routines during our World Cruise is to curl up in our comfy bed and watch a movie that’s on our stateroom TV. There are about 50 movies available. Given some of the movies hold no interest to us and there are 124 days of the cruise, we often rewatch movies we’ve seen a number of times. Some of our favorite “reruns” are Top Gun: Maverick, Mafia Mama (of course!), Miss Congeniality. And JJ Abrams’ Star Trek. I’m always a bit unsettled with the scene between Spock and Spock Prime. I mean I really don’t think Spock and Spock Prime should be having a conversation with each other in the first place. But, that’s another story. But the time travel? That’s legit!
When you take a World Cruise, you go around the world. About 24,000 miles around the world. And it requires time travel to accomplish this feat in 124 days. For example, by the time we return from our cruise in May, we will have changed times zones 24 times. We will have crossed the equator four times. And, we will have even skipped a day all together. It’s enough to make your head spin.
We have traveled west since beginning our journey. Always west. When the captain announces a time change, we go back an hour. (Except twice we gained 30 minutes. Go figure.) This is great news in the morning if you want to sleep in. It’s not so great news when you’re ready for bed in the evening and you realize if you change your clock before retiring, you’ll be going to bed at 7 p.m. (Not that this ever happens to us…no…)
And it’s not just the time changes. I’m also confused with just the passing of time in general on a World Cruise. For example, we began this journey on January 4. It was the dead of winter in Paducah, Kentucky, where we live when we’re not traipsing around the world. When we boarded m/s Zuiderdam a few days later, It was 83 degrees. Summer in January! It got hotter and hotter as we journeyed through the Panama Canal on our way to South America. Weeks passed. Eventually it stopped being winter in Paducah and spring arrived (or tried to amidst the bad weather). During all that time, it was still summer for us as we entered the Southern Hemisphere.
Gary and I celebrated our birthdays on this cruise. It seemed like we celebrated twice because we enjoyed all the on-board celebrations (including a cupcake and card from Guest Services) and a cake and boisterous singing in the dining room. It was lovely. Then the next day I started getting Facebook messages from my at-home friends wishing me a happy birthday. I got a day older. Twice.
Even the concept of always “traveling west” is confusing to me. I’ve spent most of my geography life looking at flat maps. The US is on the left. Australia is on the right. We keep traveling “left, but now we’re on the “right” side. Meanwhile, we keep moving our clocks back one hour, but now we’re getting closer to our original time as we do that. Maybe Spock Prime isn’t as ‘illogical” as I originally thought.
We’re tucked into our little cocoon aboard the Zuiderdam, enjoying the freedom of being in a sort of suspended animation. It might not be as dramatic as the starship Enterprise, but it’s our own little time machine. And we like it. As we near the end of our journey (only a little over a month to go!), sometimes I wish I could slow down time. But, then again between the time zone changes, criss-crossing the equator, and trying to keep track of what day it is, perhaps this time traveller should just be content with the pace of the journey and hang on for the rest of the ride. Live long and prosper!
Monthly Archives: March 2025
Eating On a World Cruise
You’ve probably heard this statistic: The average person gains a pound a day while on a cruise. I’m no math genius, but I have a hard time imagining someone gaining 124 pounds in four months during a World Cruise!
On a typical weeklong cruise (or maybe even a 10- or 14-day cruise, maybe this adage has some merit. I mean, people do like to eat while cruising! And, why not? The variety of breakfast breads alone would take over a week to sample, even if you were munching on multiple varieties every morning. It seems that on a “regular” cruise, everyone wants to make the most of every minute of every day. Whether it’s lounging around the pool, drinking beer all day, attending all the production shows, becoming a master at trivia, etc, cruise passengers do it with gusto.
We’ve spent a lot of days cruising the Caribbean and have watched people eat piles of bacon (in one sitting), donuts by the dozen (hey, they’re free), and three hot dogs for lunch. Then there are those who have the “drink package,” a nifty little marketing gimmick that enables the cruise line to charge a hefty sum so guests don’t have to worry about the cost of drinks (since they already paid for them). Typically this includes about 15 drinks a day (alcohol and specialty coffees and other drinks). The cruise ship accountants are hoping that you won’t reach the 15-drink limit—and the bargain-hunting passengers want to prove them wrong. One pound a day, at this point, might seem within reach if you add all that up.
One a world cruise, however, it’s different. The same food is available but the “I’ve only got a week” mentality seems absent. If you miss a favorite appetizer in the main dining room, for example, you don’t panic because you know it will most likely show up again in a few weeks.
On sea days, we try to get to the Lido before 7 a.m., both so we have time to eat and digest before we hit the pickleball courts at 8—and also so we have a shot at grabbing “our” table before the Table Swipers swoop down to claim it as “their” table. (Right now, we’re running about a 50 percent success rate.) The usual breakfast fare for me is yogurt with fruit or oatmeal and a piece (or two) of rye toast. (The rye on board is ridiculously good. I really can’t figure this out.) Once a week or so I order two eggs over medium on a piece of (you guessed it) rye toast.
Lunch can be a challenge because we are often hungry after several hours of pickleball, but we try to remember that dinner starts promptly at 5 p.m., so we don’t really need to eat a lot. I tend to rotate between a tuna fish sandwich with cheese, mayo, and lots of mustard and a small handful of chips with ketchup, or a stop at the Asian corner for some kind of fried rice. Periodically, I head to the salad station for a made-to-order salad with lots of honey mustard dressing, which is just about as insanely good as the breakfast rye toast.
Dinner in the Main Dining Room is a bit of an event so we don’t rush this. First of course is the greeting from our fabulous dining stewards. We usually eat the three courses offered (appetizer, main and dessert), but sometimes we go rogue and do things a little differently. Last night for example, I ordered the grilled pineapple with whipped ricotta and dates, but I ordered a double portion because I really love grilled pineapple. Rather than order a main dish, however, I chose the coconut shrimp appetizer, but asked for some veggies and potatoes to go with it. I finished the meal with cherry crisp and ice cream (two scoops, or “double” as our head dining steward says). I’ve gotten soup as my main a couple of times. And a few days ago, I asked for the chicken breast and vegetables without the chicken breast. The bottom line is, over all, I think we’re eating relatively normally. At least enough to ensure we won’t end our world cruise with a 124-pound weight gain!
All this sounds rather disciplined, I know, but, rest assured, if the chocolate lava cake calls my name, I have absolutely no hesitation in answering the call.
Virginia Wolf said, “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” I think, perhaps, Virginia Wolf might have enjoyed the food offered on a World Cruise.
My Year Away: World Cruise Edition. 