2016-07-07

【Aiden in English】

        Today starts the final stretch of our journey. The cruise on the Regal Princess is over, but no worries. Our trip will continue to go across English Islets with Kirkwall on the Caribbean Princess. I've mentioned before that this ship was made in 2006, which, seemingly new, is quite old. While mom usually is planning and organized person, the transformation from one boat to the next is very different. 

        Being different is not always a good thing. The newest ship of the Princess fleet features a great variety of modern tech. From each room's smart TVs to the automatic doors at each exit, or the fashionable buttons on the elevators, you can't help noticing the terrible conditions the Caribbean seems to be in. Walking along the cabin corridors, the lighting was considerably dimmer. Not to sound like a kid, but the halls resembled the scary hotel horror movies, and the bobbing ship wasn't helping. 

        The second notable change would be the quality of the rooms. Probably the most major difference comes in the bathroom, but I won't talk about the features of a toilet seat. Going outside of private areas, the buffet also has a large change. In the Regal Princess, eating at the buffet allowed a huge selection, but the downside was the annoying, oily combined smell of literally every major food style in the world stuffed into a single room. Indian curry mixed with the smell of fried meat is quite an unsettling idea. This Caribbean has half the size, and still contains the same smell. And finally, the worst change of all comes in the worst spot where the basketball court is located on the ship. 

        On the Regal Princess, I never went to the teen's club. Not that it wasn't fun, but some events ... weren't really fun. It is so bland to have a fixed schedule with events that must occur, containing annoying consequences to uncooperative kids. It awfully feels like school, where petty things such as "no bragging" and "no potty-language" and "no budging" and "no trash-talking" and "ladies first" and "listen" and "one person talking at a time" and "no stating that you are better even though everyone knows that you are" actually matter. I'm sure most of you understand the feeling of having to do things with your "friends". 

        Bonds are more often formed on the court and competition, where people share a common goal of reaching the top. Plus, no one needs to know who's better than who since it can be easily proved. Back to my point, the court on the Caribbean has shrunk immensely. The Regal Princess has a near half-court sized area for basketball, and this ship has a quarter-court sized area. The floor is also a dull reddish-brown, cracked from the years of wear. The Regal has a nice, water-repellent surface, non-slippery gripping. 

        The balls still have a slightly sticky feel on the Caribbean as well, but that is all thrown out the window. These balls have a white dust coat, having nearly no grip, making any backspin or quick pull-up extremely difficult to perform. Movement is strictly limited in the sense of how a crossover can break yours and your opponent's ankles. With these conditions, most big men get an advantage. Then again, the small court means short shots, which means easy jump shots. 

        I guess that's how this cruise is going to be. I'll have to see the silver lining in every event to make it more exciting. The small court lets shots fall in more often. The buffet, however small, makes us eat less. And the bathroom... well, I'm still not going to talk about that.

【紅霞譯文】

        今天打響了我們暑期旅遊下半部分第一槍，前一個“帝王·公主號”已完成使命，但不必擔心， 後一個“加勒比海·公主號”馬上帶我們乘風破浪穿越英倫三島直奔奧克尼群島柯克沃爾。正如以前曾經說過，“加勒比海號”建造於2006年，表面上看起來挺新，實際上卻很舊。通常媽媽主管出遊企劃，這回竟信手拈來兩艘年頭相去甚遠的遊輪。

        看來獨到個色並非都是好事，最近下水的“帝王號”公主遊輪擁有裝備精良高新現代科技，不但每個房間配置智能電視，而且進出大門全用自動控制，就連電梯裡的按鈕也安得花里胡哨。相形之下，“加勒比海號” 簡直老掉了牙，樓道燈光昏暗低迷，咱絕非以孩子口吻發牢騷，其主廳宛如恐怖電影裡陰森可怕的旅館，船身甲板也推波助瀾上下忽悠。

        另一個明顯區別就是房間質量，主要表現在浴室陳設，但這裡我暫且不談馬桶座位功用問題。走出私人住所，自助餐同樣有很大不同。“帝王號”飯菜品種繁多，不過世事均有正反兩面，各國料理競相出爐，甜鹹苦酸鮮五味再濃也抵不過油膩味刺鼻，印度咖喱飯彌散着油炸肉香的芬芳，讓人真不知道該吃什麼風味是好。“加勒比海號”面積僅有“帝王號”一半大小，而氣味有過之而無不及。末了我不得不指出，最糟糕的地方非籃球場所在的船尾莫屬。

        在剛剛過去的“帝王號”上，我從未參加青少年俱樂部，倒不是說活動中心無聊透頂，但有些項目……確實沒啥意思，問題的關鍵在於活動時間呆板，遇到不屑合作的夥伴更招人心煩，感覺好像又回到了學校，跟“哥們”“不吹牛”“不使用下流語言”“不做小動作”“不講髒話”“女士優先”“聽話”“別人說話不能插嘴”“即使你有能耐也不能表現出來”等規矩在這裡同樣適用。我相信多數人感同身受。

        這麼一來，我跟同伴接觸最多的地方不是球場就是賽場，彼此純粹為了共同目標走到一起，沒人需要了解你的經歷背景，只有實戰才是檢驗球技水平的試金石。繼續上面我所談及的話題，“加勒比海號”球場小得可憐，如果說前者籃球場有實際場地一半那麼大，那麼後者充其量僅有四分之一而已。“加勒比海號”紅褐色地板實在不敢恭維，經年使用早已磨損得裂紋斑斑；“帝王號”質地講究，再加上表面防水，走在上面絲毫沒有打滑的感覺。

        “加勒比海號”球面比較粘手，這點瑕疵均倒算不上什麼，不過球外表覆蓋了白花花的灰塵，想要用手抓球、做後旋球、快速上拉投籃比登天還難，轉動移位也極受限制，交叉跑跳快速過人不僅會讓自己腳踝受傷，而且還殃及隊友。在這種情況下，個子高的球員占盡了便宜。與此同時，由於空間狹小，我們只能採用短距離投籃，跳投已不成問題。

        我想既然“加勒比海號”遊輪條件有限，本人只能自得其樂：球場雖小但投籃命中率高；自助餐花樣不多，正好大家吃得也少；而對於浴室……哦，我沒必要小題大做。