Driven to drink at the Cova

Perusing the detailed Seapass billing statement in my hand, here is a partial tally of my alcohol consumption onboard the Celebrity Mercury.

6 Alaskan Ambers (sweet specialty beer from Alaska)
4 Blue Moons (a cocktail with curacao and I forgot what else)
3 Mojitos
3 Carlsbergs
2 Mexican coffees (coffee with Frangelico and Kahlua, I think)
1 Aspen coffee (strong, alcohol-infused coffee)
1 Dos Equis
1 White flight (3 assorted white wines)

That doesn't include the bottles of wine at dinner, extra free glasses from Marlon (pictured, with a Blue Moon in the foreground). Counting drinks for Emma and bartenders' tips, total alcohol expenditure came to about $250. Not bad for 7 nights, eh? :-D

Much of that alcohol was consumed at my nightly hangout Cova Cafe. Probably the most relaxing place on the entire ship, it was usually deserted, and the Vivaldi string quartet played excellent classical music (and even interpretations of Beatles hits) all night. Yeah, a peaceful place to get away from the family and contemplate what a shitty cruise (just kidding. ok, half-kidding) it has been so far.

Another reason I stuck around was the attractive Ukrainian violinist Natasha, the youngest member yet the leader of the quartet. We got to talking during a break between sets and among other interesting facts about her family and performing background, she revealed that she spent two months vacation in Cebu relaxing by the beach. Apparently she made friends among Filipino crew members on her first tour of duty onboard the Mercury last year. Although she'd like to think her English is terrible (and I could her mentally grasping for the right translation), our conversations went smoothly, if somewhat overly punctuated by her favorite catch-all word "kaput" (as in, "If we play bad, we go kaput"). For Ukrainian food newbies, Natasha highly recommends "borsch" soup.