"Merry Christmas!" was the theme for today. And many people were leaving their cabins to celebrate - in their Christmas Jammies. If I had been wearing a new flannel nightgown, I might have joined some of the people in this activity. Instead, I decided to get dressed in a "civilian" outfit, and get ready for tomorrow's Debarkation.
I had awakened early, and knew I'd be paying a price for this later on in the day. However, I got showered and dressed, then went to the buffet to eat breakfast. While at the buffet, I met many people in their jammies. And I found it entertaining how people would celebrate the holiday when they couldn't do many serious gift exchanges. After breakfast, I decided to buy a couple of pictures. At $25 each, they are way overpriced. Since I get a 25% discount, the $37.50/picture is slightly more reasonable. What galled me was the employee trying to sell me packages of 5 (for $125) and 8 (for $200). There were no savings for buying them in large quantities, and I felt insulted that they were trying to call what they were doing as offering me a "bargain".
When I returned to my cabin, I chatted with the steward, and asked whether I'd be seeing him again, so that I could give him his tip. Unfortunately, he'd be in a meeting when I was going to dinner with my friend from Oregon. But he told me to leave money on the bed - which I did. I then asked him about the cyst on his eyelid. He told me that the ship's doctor could lance it today. But to do so, the steward would lose his last day with people he knew. (To me, I think he wanted to make sure he got his tips.) Hopefully, he got the cyst taken care of the next day - and rested as the doc would allow him to do.
At dinner, my friend from Oregon asked me about my male name, as she tried to reach me by phone. I explained that I was transgender, and usually travel this way. Then, our conversation continued as if this wasn't an issue. She noted that if it weren't for trying to reach me, that she'd never have known anything. I guess my presentation (especially, my voice) is getting better than I knew. My new friend noted that she wanted to eat at the steakhouse specialty restaurant on Christmas. Otherwise, we'd have gotten the free bottle of wine at our first dinner (she doesn't drink), and I could have consumed it on two nights. (You can easily see why I want to reach "Platinum" status ASAP - I want the 2 "free" specialty meals and the "free" bottle of good wine.)
All too soon, the day had to end. So I bid my friend goodbye, and went up to the cabin to finish packing.
