Christmas is in no small part about gift giving and American Cruise Lines has not dropped the ball in that regard. We’ve found gifts on our beds most nights: a ball cap, insulated beverage container, winter scarves, lined knit caps, large canvas totes, note cards, insulated vests, and small canvas totes. Because we participated in a survey we even got a bottle wine to take home. Had we chosen to go to breakfast with Walter this morning we would have received gloves! (I now curse last night’s ice cream and popcorn!) We exchanged gifts with Walter and Cleone and, like most of our fellow passengers, participated in a Secret Santa exchange as well, so we are laden with gifts to take home.

To fill our lazy day on the water there were lectures, trivia (music, movies, musicals) games, a church service, art classes, gingerbread decorating, a sumptuous Christmas buffet, and entertainment! Ship to Shore, our daily program, offered this lovely Christmas toast.

May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light.
May good luck pursue you each morning and night.
May you always have walls for the wind, a roof for the rain, tea beside the fire,
laughter to cheer you, those you love near you, and all your heart might desire.
May you have warm words on a cool evening, a full moon on a dark night, and
a smooth road all the way to your door.

The day served up lots of giggles and two good laugh. Walter and Cleone’s battery operated dancing Santa hats were priceless and took everyone by surprise! The other big laugh was in response to a joke that goes something like this: What is the correct pronunciation of the word pecan? Pe-con or pe-can? Answer: pe-con is a nut and pe-can is a container left under your bed in the event nature calls in the middle of the night. Having nothing to do with Christmas, belly laughs, or nuts, here are three smile-worthy jokes I’ve stolen from this week’s Ship to Shore.

1. I asked my dog what two minus two is. Not surprisingly, he said nothing.
2. Seagulls fly over the sea because if they flew over the bay they’d be called bagels.
3. What did the ocean say to the beach? Nothing, it just waved.

Our day passed quickly and we found it both relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

For the insatiably curious…..

The American Melody, launched in August of this year, has a capacity of 175 guests and 57 crew.
We are sailing with 102 passengers. Passengers and crew have been fastidious about wearing masks whenever we’ve left our rooms … except to eat and drink.

If water travel is not your thing you can always drive the length of the Mississippi
on the Great River Road National Scenic Byway which traces the course of the river
for 3,000 miles through 10 states. Tempted?

The Mississippi River, third-largest river basin in the world behind the Amazon and the Congo,
collects water from 31 states. 

Two people have swum the length of the Mississippi: a Slovenian distance swimmer in 2002 and an American Navy combat veteran in 2015.

The Mississippi River is 200 miles shorter than the U.S.’s longest river, the Missouri.

Water-skiing was invented on the Mississippi.

The river is between 20 feet and 2 miles wide.