Eddie goes from bed to verse

By day – and night – Eddie Thomson is hotel director on board MV Voyager, currently in South America on its lengthy maiden voyage after being christened in Portsmouth at the beginning of December. In his spare moments Eddie, whose career has taken him to sea with Cunard, Royal Caribbean and Renaissance Cruises, finds time to put pen to paper now and again. A couple of years ago he compiled his reminiscences into an entertaining little volume called What Time’s The Midnight Buffet?. He became Jim McCabe and his supposed employers were Scotia Cruises, but as the book’s blurb explained, “the names have been changed to protect the guilty.”
Eddie’s latest literary effort is a verse called A Tapestry of Central America, chronicling the Voyager’s recent travels. It’s worth sharing.
The cruise began in a very quiet way
Voyager was berthed in Montego Bay
The Jamaicans all wanted to help you on the ship
But from what I hear they all wanted a tip
I went ashore; I thought I’d give it a try
Then I heard some music,” No Woman, No Cry”
Then two days at sea as we made for Progresso
Then a stop in Mexico and time for an espresso
A day at sea then on to Belize
With tenders so fast you wouldn’t believe
Skimming over the waves right into town
Wasn’t that fun, we didn’t let you down
Honduras was next on to Puerto Cortes
No tenders to ride, therefore no stress
Puerto Limon was nice, that’s in Costa Rica
Where all the locals were pleased to meet’cha
Another day at Sea, how many so far?
I’ve lost count; it’s beginning to jar,
Colombia was next the port of Cartagena
If you enjoyed it then I really don’t blame ya
There were flamingos, monkeys, squirrels and parakeets too
What a wonderful site so near to the ship, it was almost a Zoo
The San Blas islands weren’t they grand,
A little piece of Heaven surrounded by sand,
Many of you went ashore by canoe
Skimming ashore across the ocean so blue
Then on to transit the famous Panama Canal
It was exciting, fabulous and not at all banal
Do you remember the names of the locks during transit?
Gatun, Pedro Miguel, and Miraflores, that seems to fit
We got to Balboa with no Rocky in sight
Maybe in training for one more fight?
A day at sea in the Pacific Ocean, so blue
I really loved it, and I think, so did you
Manta is where we have to say goodbye
As off to home you must to fly
If the weather’s so bad and you can’t get there
Come talk to me, there might be cabins spare.