Everyone loved Princess Diana. Millions watched the Royal wedding on television and followed the golden carriage through the streets of London as the newlyweds waved to the crowds. The tabloids, catering to the public’s obsession with the princess, showcased her life constantly.  Her premature death in 1997 left the world heartbroken. In her honor, Princess Cruises named one of their ships “The Royal Princess” An enormous portrait of the princess hung from the main lobby. It was impressive.

Fifi had not been focused on that when she booked the cruise, she was focused instead on the itinerary. Five continents and over sixty countries.

 A welcoming line of crew members made the passengers feel instantly at ease. Once in the lobby, she noticed the painting of the princess, a sly smile on her face that seemed to say, “I know something, you don’t know.”

 Fifi was shown to her cabin. Fortunately, she had been given an upgrade, the new home away from home for the next three months had a private balcony. The luggage would be delivered a bit later. 

Fifi was on the Aloha deck (the third deck from the top) towards the rear of the ship. The deck above had no rooms, it contained the spa, the pool, an outdoor bar, and the lounge areas.

While she waited for the luggage to be delivered, she got acquainted with the cabin. It contained two spacious twin beds which could be turned into a queen. A small but separate sitting area with a sofa, make-up table, refrigerator, and ample closets. The full bathroom had everything she needed.  

The was a knock on the door. Someone delivered roses from her travel agent and a cut glass candy dish full of chocolates. How sweet of Nora, she thought, reminding herself to send her a thank you note when she got back. The beautiful red roses added a homey atmosphere to the cabin.  Fifi opened the curtains to let the bright sun in from the balcony and decided to go and explore the ship. She had to learn fast where the basics were located. The restaurants, the theatre, the concierge, the chapel and the infirmary. The rest of this enormous ship she would have three months to learn. Because it was an English-owned ship, the numerous steps all warned “mind your step.” It sounded cute to her. She would soon learn that “aft meant the rear of ship, and the front was the “forward.”

Fifi found instructions on what to do in case of emergencies. All passengers were assigned different emergency meeting places called “Muster Stations.” No one wants to be reminded of possible danger when they are just starting a cruise, but this drill, they would find out later, would be vital for their survival.

  On her way out of the cabin, she noticed her luggage had been piled on the side of the door. All five pieces of luggage! She smiled to herself thinking that she had planned well for her adventure, and she was going to be prepared for all kinds of climates and adventures that this cruise was going to take her to. Had she been told then that a few years later the airline would have more restrictions on luggage and that one had to pay extra, she would have been more prudent. But this was 2001, no restrictions were in place. One of the pieces of luggage was half empty, she had anticipated leaving room for souvenirs. Once a Girl Scout, always a Girl Scout, she chuckled.

 The places that she had read about in books and all those beautiful pictures she had seen in National Geographic magazine she was going to experience in person. It felt surreal.

There was plenty of closet space and drawers to store her clothing. She spotted decorative molding around the wall near the bed, a perfect place to display all the family pictures.  She was going to miss them, especially her daughter.

Several papers slipped under the door. One of them was the ship’s newsletter called The Princess Patter. It contained a note from the captain mentioning the ship’s progress, the day’s activities,  weather, sunset and sunrise times, as well as time zones. There were a variety of activities but there was always the option of finding a solitary spot on the deck to relax with a book. Fifi only glanced at it all, she had to shower and dress for the evening. There were eleven formal nights planned, but tonight it would be informal.

She chose a well-tailored baby blue pantsuit that looked great with her short blonde haircut and a pair of kitten-heeled sandals. She accessorized it with her small pearls. She looked at herself in the wardrobe’s mirror and smiled, her smile was her best accessory, and she knew it.

She gave herself ten minutes to get there because it was a long walk from the aft to the forward part of the ship. Riding down the glass elevator, she noticed the magnificent crystal chandelier and grand staircase with gold banisters that opened to the formal dining room. A Maître D was standing by the doors to welcome the passengers, he had a list of passengers and the assigned tables.

Fifi was shown to a table of six. A handsome gentleman dressed in a brown sports jacket and ivory shirt was sitting on one side, but the others had not arrived. Fifi sat next to him, and they introduced each other and started a nice conversation. His name was Henry, he told her, but everyone called him Hank. Hank was a veterinarian and had recently retired.

  The other passengers started to arrive. Benny a retired surgeon from Puerto Rico, Michelle a divorced Canadian, and then, Sally and Maureen who had retired stewardesses from a no longer existing airline. They lived in Hawaii. They all thought initially that Hank and Fifi were a couple because the chemistry between the two was obvious.

They soon realized that they had been seated by the staff on a table of singles. The group of diners was thrilled to be going on a World Cruise. A first for each one of them. They got along so well that Fifi felt more relaxed. She was the baby of the group, they told her, most of them being in their 60s. The table assignment was to remain the same for the rest of the cruise, but by the end of the week, they would become lifetime friends.

Benny, was nicknamed “The Connoisseur” because of his familiarity with wines. Hank (privately)  she called Cowboy. Because he lived in Texas and loved wearing Western-style clothes. Michelle the Canadian divorcee was a lady full of life who possessed a quick laugh. Sally was the oldest, with a sweet smile that crinkled her eyes, she was tiny but elegant. Maureen and Sally shared a room. Maureen was “the girl next door” friendly and cautiously ready for fun. Soon they developed several routines. They agreed on a platter of fruit and cheese after dinner instead of desserts, and at Michelle’s request, everyone rotated seats so that it would be easier to chat more freely with the person next to them that day.  Fifi later wondered if Michelle had eyes on handsome Hank when she made that suggestion. It was not Benny “The Connoisseur” with his pock-marked-faced and beady eyes that caught her eye, that’s for sure.

After dinner, they went to see the shows at the theatre as a group. From then on, they did lots of things as a group. There was just one thing no one seemed interested in, and that was the casino. Hank and Fifi were surprised to find that their cabins were only two doors down from each other. They walked back to their rooms together and talked about their evening.

From then on, on the way to dinner, he would knock on her door and escort her down to the dining room, which gave them a chance to talk privately. Upon coming out of her room he would ask her to twirl around admiring the new outfits. He was such a gentleman!  

Back at home, her lawyer had told her that “she didn’t have her little antennas out looking for a mate” but it would happen someday. Having a Romance was far from her mind when she decided to take the cruise, but it seemed that Hank was smitten with her and she felt flattered.  After twenty- six years of marriage, her husband’s betrayal and adultery left her blindsided.  And then the accident, the comma, the injuries, the long recuperation. She told herself she was a fearless survivor and as such she would value life and live every day to its fullest.

She finished twirling for him and smiled, they started walking and when they got to the elevator Hank asked,

“What do you think if we go on a walk tomorrow afternoon around the promenade, it’s about a mile?”

“Sure, Hank, that sounds good, we could get a little exercise after the morning lectures and a light lunch.”

Fifi went to bed and was thinking of what to wear the next day when she heard a door slam. She was startled at first, then frightened thinking of ghosts. Swift, slam, swift, slam. Cautiously, she got up and moved the heavy curtain aside to look out the balcony window but all she could see was the deep darkness of the ocean at night and a few stars in the sky.  She felt the slight rocking of the ship and realized that it was simply the rocking that made the wardrobe open and close.  She took a deep breath, closed the wardrobe doors securely, and went back to sleep.

She woke up feeling energetic and happy and after reading the Patter she made her plans for the day. She went to the Lido for a light breakfast of hot tea, fruit and yogurt. After breakfast, Fifi got lost trying to find the exercise room but finally made it. It was on the forward side of the ship. A room full of floor-to-ceiling windows gave the passengers a panoramic view of the ocean while exercising on the machines. She liked the treadmill and the stepper the best. The sauna and massage room were in the adjacent rooms. Maybe some other day.

She was going to meet Hank after lunch at the Lido, which had a Mexican-themed buffet she stopped at the room and grabbed a sun visor for their walk. Fifi was still trying to get used to her “sea legs” but she did not feel sick and nauseous. She just thought it was funny taking one step forward and one to the side. After her walk with Hank around the promenade she was going to go to a singles get-together and maybe attend a lecture on Machu Pichu.

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Several days had passed which included the Port of Cartagena, Columbia.  Fifi and Shelly, her newfound friend from cocktail hour thought that all the buildings with the Colonial architecture were charming. The fort, and cobblestone trees, transported one to a long-ago era. Fifi even got to have her picture taken with a sloth. The first time she had seen one up close.

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 Next was the Panama Canal. She was mesmerized by the locks and how they lifted the ship and then lowered it in a way one wouldn’t even notice. The passengers got lectured through loudspeakers on the history of the Panama Canal and how it was built as the ship passed through. It cost three hundred and seventy-five million dollars and over five thousand lives were lost. Many to yellow fever and Malaria. A marvel of human ingenuity, but sad.

Later Fifi occupied her time in a book club and a Literary Club; and at each club, she met new people. Bill, a psychiatrist raised in Puerto Rico, and his wife Judy, a pretty redhead retired teacher. They told her that a group of friends met before dinner for cocktails and a trivia game, if she cared to join them. The ship was like a mini-United Nations with crew members from all over the world and passengers from many nationalities.

She asked Hank on their daily walk around the promenade that afternoon if he wanted to go for cocktails and trivia before dinner, even though he was not big on games, he agreed to go. This would become a daily event that would make lifetime friendships. Hank and Fifi even managed to go to a lecture that afternoon to learn about Machu- Pichu which would be an overnight tour scheduled for the next day. They would be on different tours when they got there.

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The passengers going to Machu Pichu had to get up at dawn because this was a tour that would require a bus, a plane and a train. It reminded Fifi of the hilarious movie by that tittle with Steve Martin and John Candy. A bus took them from the Port through Ecuador and then the airport where passengers took a flight to Cuzco a small colonial city in the outskirts of Machu Pichu. Little by little they would acclimate to higher altitudes. Cuzco is 12,000 feet above sea level.  Upon arriving, they were provided with plenty of water. The buses were equipped with oxygen masks just like airplanes. Their tour included an all-day city tour of Cuzco.  

Many of the dinner mates were booked on the tour of Machu Pichu including Michelle who was supposed to room with Fifi at the Hotel Monasterio in Cuzco but never made it because her flight was delayed.  The Hotel was a renovated Monastery with curved entrances and windows, stone walls, and a flower-filled courtyard. There was also a tiny but luxurious chapel with gold everywhere. The dining area had wrought iron chandeliers and museum-quality  oil- paintings of large angels.

The next morning after a delicious breakfast of eggs and potatoes, Fifi and her new friends Judy the red- head and Bill the psychiatrist went on a tour bus to a train up the mountain to Machu Pichu to see the ancient civilization’s hidden gem. It felt wonderful to feel the fresh air through the train’s open window and to see the multitude of hills and green vegetation. Bill and Judy bought an ear of warm corn from a vendor. It was the biggest ear of corn that Fifi had ever seen. They offered her a taste, she took one kernel the size of a penny. The wonders never stopped! It was fresh and sweet. From the train stop the passengers were escorted to a bus. The local indigenous children brought a Llama to take pictures. The children were darlings with round faces. The girls with colorful ribboned skirts and bright bows on their hair. People petted the llamas and gave the children money for a picture. The children were very polite but rarely smiled, except one mischievous little boy who kept following the bus path and reappeared at different spots on the mountain as the bus followed the winding road up and up. He must have known secret shortcuts. He popped up unexpectedly, like a jack-in-a-box, and waved his straw hat in greeting with a big smile on his face.  Fifi kept looking out the window as the bus climbed. It was a beautiful but frightening height.

They finally got to the area where tours started, they had bathrooms and lockers. The group proceeded to climb. The steps are narrow and steep. The air is thin. It is not an easy climb, but the scenery is worth the climb, she thought. Some passengers struggled. Bill was having trouble because of his recently operated knee. Fifi had taken a walking stick, which she lent him. He needed it more than she did. She was more afraid of the fact that there was no rail or anything to stop one from falling.

 She wondered about the Incas and how they managed to live their daily lives climbing up and down during their daily chores. There is evidence of their produce garden and even those were planted in an incline. An enormous city that was hidden from civilization for years and years. There is a sense of wonder up there, so near the clouds that it seems one can touch them. A large bird gracefully flew above,  Fifi thought it might be someone’s soul. The guide pointed out an area where sacrifices were conducted.

She turned and looked down and spotted Hank in a separate group behind her, she waved.

 Hey cowboy, how are you doing? She liked to tease him with that nickname.

She noticed Michelle among the other group trying to catch up to Hank, and frowned.  It was only a few days prior that Hank had asked Fifi to join him at the theatre for Ballroom classes. Fifi got there only five minutes late, but she found Michelle dancing with him. She just turned around and left like a princess that does not get her way. She had noticed Hank’s disappointed face.

Now, she noticed that even in Machu Pichu Michelle was on a chase. Fifi was not. She resumed the tour meeting up with Carlie a new friend from San Francisco, California, a sweet and non-pretentious lady who had a daughter she was close to, just like her.

“What do you think Carlie? Isn’t this better than a picture?”

 “ A thousand times better”  Carlie who enjoyed photography, agreed.