I’m not sure how many times a day my cabin is freshened, but every time I drop a towel on floor and left my room, it was gone on my return. My cabin man, Eka, is always in hall, flashing me smiles every time I walk by. Soon, I start looking for him, he becomes part of day. I actually meet a man who picks up a towel, and he is happy to do it, I half expect him to thank me. While this may sound trivial, when else in life would this magic occur?

The ship itself is a creature of comforts . . . winding stairs, colors shine everywhere We can go to a show, watch a movie, go dancing, or simply swim your day away. Everything from art auctions to hot tubbing.

Two nights during week it's dress up for dinner. Suits and silk everywhere; eating on finest china, and our violinist stringing off notes in background.

Our Restaurant Manager, Joe, walks his rounds nightly conversing his way around dining room, which is a work of elegance. We linger over our meals and drinks just soaking in ambiance and enjoying pampering.

We tango on dance floor, sometimes on decks as well, gamble at Casino, loll in pool, and search out ship from one end to other. At end of every day, we wind up, or wind down, on verandah bringing an end to day.

While we meander around ship, we chat it up with our fellow pampered shippers, and we soon realize most people are not maiden voyagers, but seasoned shippers, (our own term we came up with for our fellow travelers, if we can have our ship and sea, we can certainly have our own words). We hear a few stories about Captain who is held in high regard by those who meet him. It seems our Captain has a reputation (not to be confused with those of us with more colorful reputations). The Captain does not simply master ship through seas, he is man that all else on ship is measured. I receive an invitation to a private party with Captain Olaf, so we dress ourselves up, and beaming with excitement to meet our Captain of our great ship Zuiderdam.

With violinist pealing off notes to song, champagne in hand, we feel honored to be among guests, most of who have sailed Holland America many times.

I talk with Captain, who is youngest Captain in line's ranks, and find him to be a match for his reputation. He is a warm and easy person to speak with; I could have talked with him all night. However, being a Captain requires only a bit of his time and focus.

I interrupt my assistant who is busy rubbing elbows and sharing stories over champagne and have him take a few pictures before Captain takes off.

A Bit About The Ship Manager

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Mari Clifton Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com

Friday, June 5 - Fargo to Rapid City, South Dakota

Wow. How many people would think of Plains as scenic?

The landscape continued changing as I headed west across North Dakota. Stay In FargoNearing Bismarck, where I stopped for lunch at an old downtown hotel, untamed prairie began to compete with groomed farmland as my surroundings became more arid. At Bismarck I turned south and passed through Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Indian Reservations, where farms and homesteads became even more widely scattered.

Being in this area is a bit like being at sea. The green-yellow swells seem to roll on forever in all directions. The tiny towns are so isolated that each one seems like an island, secure and self-contained in a vast ocean of hills and grass. Stopping for a stretch and a soda in Faith, South Dakota, I saw that this hamlet of 500 people had its own newspaper. The town seemed to have one of everything a small town needs: a bank, a motel, a gas station, a church, a restaurant, and even a small lake. It needed more trees, though. Throughout Plains can be seen long rows of trees planted by farmers years ago as windbreaks, but most trees around here grow in little arroyos where tiny streams collect rain from occasional thunderstorms that roll across prairie.

Finally, and quite abruptly, ridgelines of Black Hills appeared on southwestern horizon, providing some definition to a landscape that for some time now had been an infinite, undulating carpet of grass. Flying across U.S. takes long enough, but hitting road is best way to gain a true appreciation of its dimensions. Parked at eastern edge of mountains, like a miniature Denver, is Rapid City, my destination for night.

Saturday, June 6 - Rapid City to Sheridan, Wyoming Well, I've seen it. Now what?

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Rob LaGrone, Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent – Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com To book travel visit Jetstreams.com at www.jetstreams.com and for Beach Resorts visit Beach Booker at www.beachbooker.com