Things are bad and the commies are working hard to impose their socialist revolution on the U.S., but we all still have to live our lives, don't we? So the lovely bunny and myself went on a Mexican Riviera cruise.
A bad economy is also known as a good opportunity and cruises are as cheap as I've seen them since right after 9/11. For not much more that what it would have cost me to spend a long weekend somewhere, we spent a week visiting Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. For us it was a last minute thing and Holland America was still trying to fill cabins as late as a week before the sail date.
Holland-America is holding its own, mostly because it attracts a more sedate (read older) clientelle who are less affected by the ups and downs of the economy. That was OK with us because it meant fewer unruly prepubescents and adolescents sucking up all the oxygen. The two sea days also allowed me to make a down payment on my sleep debt.
I note that there is a distinct downgrading of the quality of food served on these cruises as compared with past years. It felt more like the Sizzler than the gourmet feasts we'd enjoyed on past cruises. Gone are the pats of Elle et Vivre French butter and quality cold cuts. Utility grade beef though, was in ample supply.
Service remains good, as battalions of Filipinos are still motivated by the prospect of a good tip, even though the tip is now a standardized 11 dollar per person per day charge on account. The evening entertainments were about the same as well, since actors, comedians, illusionists and musicians are always glad to have a job in this economy.
As usual, the evening meal afforded us the opportunity to meet some very interesting people from different locales and politics was often the subject of discussion. I'm much more interested in treating these conversations as informal polling, than in opining and there was a distinct 'tea party' feel with everyone with one notable exception.
While sitting at dinner with a West Coast Democrat couple and a older, single woman from the Northwest, the conversation took a sticky turn. Not with the Democrats who are pretty much on the same page as your average independent and moderate Republican (now that Iraq isn't much of an issue anymore...), but with the decidedly 'progressive' woman who objected to the Democrat's hunting practices, then took exception to the idea than Hispanic minorities are responsible for crime to any significant degree ( Hispanics are 3.3 times more likely to be in prison than whites; they are 4.2 times more likely to be in prison for murder, and 5.8 times more likely to be in prison for felony drug crimes. Young Hispanics are 19 times more likely than young whites and slightly more likely than young blacks, to be in youth gangs. ) and finally to the outcome of Proposition 8 (we had a Catholic priest at the table as well...). After expressing incredulity at our barbarisms, she arose and announced that she had never sat at a table with so many avowed racists!
Its one thing to note the rhetorical flourishes of Progressives on blogs and cable television, its quite another to see such moral certitude exercised in the flesh. There is nothing scarier than a stupid person with the perception of moral high ground. That night, she was felt fully justified in calling five strangers a 'bunch of racists'. With a gun and a badge, what might she have felt justified in doing?
I wasn't particularly surprised that she was single, and fortunately she was a very small minority among the people we met and chatted with during our sojourn.
Cruises are an excellent value right now, but the trick is not to book to early. Prices decline as the sail date gets closer and the berths aren't filled up.
