The Experience and the Challenge

The Experience

Prior to taking this cruise I had no idea what to expect. I had no expectations at all. Well maybe just one. . . .to have a good time. I do not think any of us knew exactly what we were in for. One cannot compare this trip to a national skate party for obvious reasons. Normally, our national skate trip itinerary consists of arriving on Friday, skating for one or two nights and departing on Sunday, tired and dreading a long drive after only having about five hours of sleep.

This cruise was an International Affair and the skating did not take place in a rink. Cruising on the Caribbean Sea, visiting four different countries, leaving your family and friends for eight days and still being able to get your skate on is the phenomenal experience of a lifetime. This trip is in a completely separate category, in a class all its own. When asked to describe my personal experience I have to say I had the time of my life. Imagine being away from home for a week, no phones, no emergencies, no email, no Internet, and no computer. Of course we had access to these things that have become an essential part of our daily lives but I chose to walk on by. You know that you will return home in a week but for the time being, you just live life one day at a time, doing what you want, when you want and however you want. With no clocks telling you when to get up, when to go to work, when to leave work, you eventually realize you are in paradise.

People take cruises all the time, usually with a significant other, family or close friends. Imagine being on a cruise with a hundred other people who share your same passion for skating. Whether you choose to be alone or socialize with others, that is your decision. On some days, you leave your cabin and walk to another deck, you are almost guaranteed to run into a fellow skater. You sit, chat or decide to go to dinner, take in a show or take a dip in the pool. Afterwards, you go your separate ways and you run into another skater or skaters and do something else like hitting the casino or hanging out at the club all night until you either shut the place down or pass out. On other days, you may just want to take a walk on the top deck alone, overlooking the beautiful horizon, trying to catch the sun setting over the ocean. What you do is up to you.

And the skating? . . .. I’m sure you have heard different opinions by now about what it was like to skate on the ship. Most people made comments that the rink would be small, the floor was slippery, or it would be hard to skate when the ship was rocking. Here is my view of it. This venture took place on a commercial cruise liner. One of the largest I have ever seen. Roller Skating is not on its entertainment list. The facility we used in which to skate was their ice skating rink where they have musical shows and Ice Skating sessions. Royal Caribbean complied with the Detroit Rhythmic Rollers request to convert the ice rink to a skating rink. This was the first time this has been requested and I think it was a blessing they complied, not once, but twice during the week. The ocean was quite choppy the first time we skated and it was difficult walking on the ship but to me, skating was a different story. Once you got rolling, you didn’t feel it anymore. The second night we skated, the waters were a lot calmer and neither walking nor skating was a problem. As for the size of the floor, we had to come to the realization that we were on a ship, not in a skating rink so the size was to be expected. The floor was small but it was large enough for a skater to get their groove on. Two of the smallest rinks I’ve visited, Hoover (Dayton, OH) and Smithfield (Smithfield, VA) have had skaters packed wall-to-wall, going 100 m.p.h. and doing tricks as if they had all the room in the world. That was unbelievable to me until I witnessed it for myself. If we have the talent and desire to do it at those rinks, we can do it anywhere. The surface of the floor was slick but for any skater who has been skating for a while, he or she could adapt. Thankfully, I had my Beatkeeper wheels on and after about 15 minutes, they conformed to the floor and gripped. No Problem Mon!

The Challenge

Taking photos and shooting video footage on the Bon Voyage Cruise and Skate was both interesting and challenging. As this journey was the first skating cruise, it was also a first assignment of this type for me. Although there were not as many skaters as you see at the national events in the states, they were extremely hard to catch up with due to the many activities going on all the time. The Mariner of the Seas cruise ship is a beautiful but massive floating resort with so many things to do that you find yourself not knowing where one day ends and the next day begins. Every night at the stroke of midnight, the ship’s crew changed a strip of carpet in the elevators that told us what day it was. That was our only clue if we didn’t have a copy of the ship’s activity itinerary.

Each day’s itinerary was filled with about a hundred different free activities in which you could participate at your discretion, either on the ship or off the ship on an island excursion. I carried my camera almost everywhere I went in an attempt to capture memorable moments of as many skaters as possible. I was successful to a point but keeping up with a hundred skaters who could be anywhere was a task.

If I had to summarize my experience in one word I would have to say “unforgettable”. I strongly recommend anyone who is considering going on the next cruise in 2006, to seriously start saving their money for both the cabin price and the island excursions, schedule the time off from work at the first opportunity and get your wardrobe together. Try convincing a friend to go along with you. Later on, we will give some tips on what to do and what not to do to prepare for your trip as some of us learned from this trip.

Don't let another opportunity to watch the sun set over the ocean go by. Be ready!

I hope you enjoy this edition of Mind, Body and Roll and I want to see everyone on the Bon Voyage Cruise and Skate 2006!

- Desi