NCL Epic Passengers

This recent cruise being my first cruise traveling by myself I found that I met so many more people then I had expected.  And, WOW, they were interesting!

The first woman I met on the cruise ship who really stuck out was staying in a Spa Cabin.  You might wonder how I knew this?  Well, I took a tour of the spa and she was on my tour.  She kept loudly saying to the person travling with her, "with this band we can come in here any time, the other passengers aren't allowed in here."  She was referring to a small black band that identified her as a spa cabin passenger.  FYI, any passenger can buy this band for sea days or the duration of the trip.

While on an excursion I met a gentleman who was traveling by himself, I would say he was about 40 years old, he was staying in a Villa, by himself.  I'm told that the villas start at $10,000 on this cruise.  Incase you are wondering what he does for a living that he can afford a villa, he owns some bars in New Orleans.  He was a nice guy once he got talking, but getting him to talk took some time.  I suspect he's a closet wacko with good social skills when he wants to use them.

Then there was the man who told a story about how he had to deposit over $10,000 cash to a bank.  Whenever you deposit $10,000 cash into a bank you had to fill out a federal form regarding the transaciton.  This man didn't think anyone actually read the form so he wrote how he was using the money to buy drugs from Columbia.  Apparently they do read the forms and he was visited by the DEA. 

I met two girls who were traveling by themselves, it turns out that they were sorority sisters, just from different colleges.  In a strange twist, one of the girls works across the street from me.

Then there was Mr. and Mrs. Polo, they actually looked like a lovely couple.  But they were both wearing Polo shirts, the kind with big giant polo players on them.  Being alone, I made up great stories about how they worked for Ralph Lauren and Polo. Maybe I should have talked to them, maybe they could have given me some Polo clothing.

One thing I did notice as a general theme was that many of the passengers (except for the Europeans) seemed like they were Europe rookies.  They were extra paranoid about safety.  I guess I was like that when I first went to Europe, wearing my money pouch under my pants everywhere I went. First timers are fun, they see things so much differently, it's nice to be reminded on where you came from.

It was an interesting cruise and it reminded me of why I love to travel, all the great and intersting people you meet.

Finding Love...

A couple weeks ago I was talking to my friend who was telling me about her new boyfriend, they met in the airport. I was surprised, I spend a lot of time in airports (ok, more then the average person does) and the best I've done was have a conversation with another woman on a plane.

I've found the answer to finding love in the airport - Jetiquette! The Jetiquette radio show recently did a Valentines Day show about finding romance at the airport and on the plane. I had a lot to learn... Maybe it's the stress of traveling or all the strange things that happen at airports, but I never really thought about the airport or the plane as a sexy place. But with all those airport employees and airline personnel it kinda makes sense.

Some of the tips I picked up:
- Don't wear you PJ's to the airport. Dress up a bit and look nice, something you should do all the time. Hey, you never know when you'll meet the man/woman of your dreams.

-Look at people, as a NYer it's considered rude to look people in the eye, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't be looking at people to find a nice looking one.

-When you find that person that looks good, look them in the eye and say Hi.

Things may or may not work out from there, but all that is a good place to start.

All of a sudden I want to go to the airport and see how it works. But if you get there first, good luck!