It’s no secret that I wanted to be home for Christmas, I don’t actually know many people who wouldn’t prefer that. But ship-side Christmas does have its high points…sometimes I forget that.
This evening, the atrium of the flagship was crowded with people waiting for the annual tree lighting ceremony. It’s a simple thing really, but we do the best we can. Our florists on board are exceptional, and they really do a fantastic job of turning the flagship’s atrium into a holiday fairy land (I think there are about 8 trees down there). For two days now those trees have sat there decked in unlit lights…waiting.
The beverage staff wondered throughout the crowd with Christmas cookies and complimentary hot chocolate and hot apple cider, and the singers from the cast sang carols, and the cruise director proceeded to make his normal touching speech. After this one child from the kids on board was selected to come forward with a handful of ‘magic’ snow, which he was invited to scatter on the trees…causing them to come all aglow…
Of course, I’ve never seen this from ground level, because we’re always up on deck 5, looking down on the milling people below, waiting patiently for the cruise director’s cue:
Now, I know we’re heading into warm, wonderful sunny weather…but here on this ship? We *can* make it snow…
And a great gasp goes up from all the little kids ringing the atrium railings as low and behold it does snow.
It’s not really snow of course, its dollhouse snow, tiny shimmering plastic flakes that are easily tossed about. Way up on deck 5, high above where the majority of the people are, we dig our fingers into buckets of the white flakes and scatter them over the edges of the railing, by the time they pass the eyes of those children – yes, those flakes look like snow.
How did you DO that? How did you make it snow????
And we shrug, and we smile, and we hide the empty champagne buckets behind our backs.
Magic…