Free 1 Shore Excursion by Marie Moore

seating at dinner as well , some cruise lines are now offering true open seating . The ships of those lines present a choice of restaurants and meal times. Besides the main dining room and buffet, meals are also served in smaller, themed restaurants that require reservations and come with a surcharge. We urge individual clients who are deciding on a cruise to always consider which style of d ining they prefer before choosing a ship . Some passengers are enthusiastic in their praise of the newer meal arrangements. Others prefer the more traditional routine.
    Luckily, when I arrived at the dining room there was no maitre d’ or assistant maitre d’ at the door to seat me. They were all busy seating others.
    I paused just inside the door for a quick scan of the room, not wanting to have to eat with damn frolicking Jay and company. I didn’t see him and didn’t want to even guess where he might be. I was still plenty mad at him, and though I knew we would eventually make up, I was not ready for that olive branch just yet.
    I walked quickly past the High Steppers enclave, smiling and waving, and settled at a small table near the window .
    I looked out at the whitecaps on the waves without really seeing them. The ship was bouncing around pretty good now, despite the stabilizers. Every now and then you could hear something else crash in the kitchen. I didn’t care. I’m a good sailor, never get seasick, and Empress has lots of dishes . M y mind was busy grappling with the disturbing image of Bostick and Ruth as a duo.
    “May I?”
    I looked up at a spanking white uniform, immaculate , crisply pressed and replete with gold braid. It was Captain Vargos .
    He seated himself across from me without waiting for an answer. In my experience, some cruise ship captains equate their personal magnetism with that of film stars, and this one seemed to be no exception.
    Rahim, the busboy, filled our water glasses and handed us lunch menus . The head waiter approached our table with two eager-looking passengers, but after a glance from Vargos, he seated them elsewhere. Their faces fell. Passengers love to dine with the captain.
    “There now, Captain Vargos, ” I said, “ you’ve disappointed your public. And isn’t it rather unusual for you to be in the dining room at lunch?”
    I closed the menu and willed the waiter to appear.
    “It is indeed unusual, Miss Marsh,” he said, leaning forward, “but then , this is an unusual voyage, and you are an unusual lady. May I call you Sidney? I have sent you one dinner invitation already that you have ignored, but now that we have this crisis on our hands it is imperative that we meet. We must work very closely together. It is essential, n’est-ce pas ? So I am here today for th e express purpose of having lunch with you. I left orders to be informed when you arrived.”
    Rahim offered bread and a wink, and the sommelier opened a bottle of white wine.
    Antonio, the waiter , appeared for our order.
    “I’ll have the chef’s recommendations for today, Antonio,” Captain Vargos ordered. “And for you, Sidney ?”
    “I’ll just have the luncheon salad.” I said with regret.
    With no breakfast, after the night I’d had, I’d been looking forward to the whole nine yards at lunch, but I didn’t want to spen d any more time with Vargos than necessary . Jay and I had clearly been shut out of the loop of information regarding the investigation of Ruth’s death. I resented that and knew I wasn’t going to be told anything new or significant by this Greek god.
    “I don’t quite understand why you need to speak with me a t all , Captain Vargos,” I began , looking up into those deep blue eyes. Despite my resolve, w ading into those depths, I almost lost my train of thought. “I was told that once the cruise officials landed onboard this afternoon, they would assume all responsibility for the investigation.”
    “That would certainly be true if the authorities had been able to board