Nassau was hot, hot, hot
Last week Bob and I celebrated our 37th anniversary. He surprised me with a weekend cruise to the Bahamas. We had a wonderful time together, just the two of us (if you don’t include the other 2,598 people).
Having been on a few cruises, we are now part of the Platinum Class. I know that sounds impressive, but let me assure you, we put on our swim suits one leg at a time like the rest of you. Just as I was getting all puffed up about my privileged status, I discovered that Platinum Class is the bottom rung of an elaborate cruising class system. We have a long, long way to go to get to the top, but we can get there by taking more and more cruises. It’s vicious; i.e., expensive. Here’s the progression: Above us lowly Platinum people are many classes – Silver, Gold, Diamond, Rock, Paper, Scissors. Gold is better than silver. Diamond is better still. Rock crushes Scissors. Paper covers Rock. Scissors cuts Paper. It’s all very complicated.
Getting back to our weekend, we arrived at the port and I went through security without any problems. Bob, however, had his hat frisked. I’m guessing something about it threw up a flag that implied he was a risky cruiser. After being patted down, it was reunited with Bob and allowed through.
We boarded the lovely Monarch of the Seas, looking forward to our adventure. We didn’t care what type of room we had since this was a short trip. Even with that in mind, when we opened the door to our cabin, we discovered the smallest room I had ever seen. We called it our statecloset. I’m not saying it was small, but we had to go out in the hall just to change our mind. On the positive side, Bob and I were closer than ever.
Before I go on, let me tell you that our ship was completely booked with 2600 passengers. With that number of people in mind, you’d expect to find a few swimming pools and multiple hot tubs. There was two of each. They were open beginning at 4 pm on Friday until midnight that night and then from 9:00 am until midnight on Saturday and Sunday. But using the hot tubs was tricky. The maximum number of people in each was ten. Have you ever tried cycling 2600 people through two hot tubs ten people at a time? That’s quite a challenge!
Challenge accepted! I put my math prowess to work to solve the problem. I figured 20 percent of the people don’t care about going in the hot tub and that leaves 2,080 people in line to use 2 hot tubs with a capacity of 10 people each. If each round in a hot tub lasts 15 minutes and I’m at the end of the line, at what time do I get a turn?
Yes, these are the things that keep me up at night. I lie there laughing as I picture hundreds of people circling the ship while waiting in line to finally have a soak. So here’s the deal, the first person to give me the correct answer to my question as a comment at the end of this post will win a $5 Starbucks gift card. That’s right – Five Whole Dollars! You already know that I don’t excel at math, so of course I’ll have Bob check the answer for me. I’ll announce the winner in my next post. And as a bonus, I promise not to give you any more math problems, no matter how funny I think they are.
Life on the Lighter Side 
Roy A Ackerman,PhD,EA @Cerebrations.biz
/ August 7, 2012I have the simplest answer.Get a magnum of wine and kiss your husband at midnight on Saturday. Then, you’ll be plastered enough to not care that you just got your chance.
Bonnie Anderson
/ August 7, 2012Great answer, Roy.
Dena Walley
/ August 7, 2012Fun challenge, but since I have a baby in hand, I don’t feel like pulling out my calculator (you know I won’t do this in my head!). That said, I bet I could get a free drink off of you at Starbucks next time we go out, so I’ll give some other reader a chance! 🙂
Bonnie Anderson
/ August 7, 2012True, true. You know me well.
Kathy Morgan
/ August 7, 2012I’ve gone on a cruise with you and Bob before and I know that you’ll never get in the hot tub because you can’t leave the game of Catan that you
are playing with a random couple . I’ll meet you at Starbucks for lunch!
Bonnie Anderson
/ August 7, 2012We did the entire cruise without even thinking about Catan. Maybe there’s hope for us.
rebootingtclDonald
/ August 7, 2012Based on the 2,080 folks who desire the hot tub. Dip in the tub lasting 15 minutes. Hot tub capacity of 10 and 2 hot tubs: Hours of operation
Friday 4 pm – Midnight. 640 get in on Friday. 1440 remain in line.
Saturday 9 am- midnight 1200 get in on Saturday. 240 remain.
Sunday 9 am – midnight only need the first three hours.
You and your husband get in the hot tub at 1145 am on Sunday.
Bonnie Anderson
/ August 7, 2012Thanks for taking the time to do the math, Donald. I had a lot of hits but not many by mathematicians.
rebootingtcl
/ August 14, 2012Trust me, I am NOT a math magician. I had to create charts and count it out with Excel. LOL
Bonnie Anderson
/ August 14, 2012I just saw this comment come in as I am typing out my Oops post. I’m so sorry I forgot to announce that you won. In a few minutes you’ll see a post come out all about you! I hope you get some traffic from it. I do enjoy your blog. I’ll send you a message at your gmail account to get your address for you Starbucks gift card. Thanks for your patience with me!
rebootingtcl
/ August 7, 2012The last group would enter the hot tub at 1145 sunday morning.
Leslie Santamaria
/ August 7, 2012Funny post as usual, Bonnie! I think your turn in the hot tub would come two weeks after you got home. That or Christmastime!
Bonnie Anderson
/ August 7, 2012Yes, very funny, Leslie. It’s a good thing we have our own hot tub.
Alana Mautone (@RamblinGarden)
/ August 7, 2012Answer: make friends with actuaries (I know a couple), take them on your next cruise and let them do all your math. Who thought going on a cruise would become a math problem? Maybe that question should go into the next edition of a math textbook. Beats the “if two trains are going 40 mph…) question. I liked Roy’s answer the best. I think you should give him a Starbucks gift card, too.
Bonnie Anderson
/ August 7, 2012I am married to an actuary (engineering type). That’s how this post started – I told Bob I was picturing all of these people winding around the ship waiting for their turn in the hot tub and we’d probably get ours around 3 am. Then as I’m laughing about that picture, the post is born. Bob did the math for me as, between you and me, it was a little beyond me. Nice to hear from you Alana.
cherilynde
/ August 7, 2012I’m glad Donald got the answer already, because–as I think I said before–math really isn’t my thing, and I wouldn’t want to strain my brain.
And that was a pretty small room, but, you’re right–for a weekend, probably wouldn’t matter much. Plus, I wish I lived somewhere it was practical to take a weekend cruise; I’d love that.
And, happy anniversary to you and Bob!
Bonnie Anderson
/ August 7, 2012Thank you, Cherilynde. I’ll try to keep my promise about keeping math out of my blog. It strains me, too.
Kim Sutter
/ August 12, 2012Bonnie,
So, I’m a little late to your new blog party but I read this post Sunday night and actually choked laughing out loud! Oh, my friend – I love your sense of humor and the way you look at the world! It’s always informative and entertaining to look at the world through your eyes. I do have one suggestion though. Buy your own hot tub and enjoy it anytime you’d like!
Bonnie Anderson
/ August 12, 2012Welcome, Kim! Thanks for stopping in again. We do have our own hot tub, thank goodness, or I would have had to lodge a complaint.