Cruising on the night before Christmas

 

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and far out at sea
Our vessel was sailing, as smooth as could be The stockings were hung from the balcony chairs
With hope that St. Nicholas soon would be there The children were nestled all snug in their uppers
Having just settled down from a Christmas Eve supper And ma and myself, we were covered in aloe
A bit too much sun, in a pool, warm and shallow When up in the sky, there arose such a clatter
I leapt from my bed to see what was the matter To the sliding glass door, I flew like a flash
Well, more like a saunter, and less like a dash And what to my skeptical eyes should appear
But a great shiny sleigh, and eight flying reindeer They circled our ship, from starboard to port
As the moon lit the driver, a jolly old sort Who called to his team, in a happy retort
“Now Dasher, now Dancer,” so on and so forth We raced through our cabin and into the hall
To the very top deck, in time for us all To be awed by the sight of Old Santa’s sleigh
As he lightly touched down, by the midnight buffet With a bundle of goodies thrown over his back
He rose in the air and dropped down the smokestack Santa went straight to work, and later we learned
He found every child’s cabin, from the bow to the stern Insides and oceanviews, balconies and suites
Santa filled every stocking, with toys and with treats Until all his deliveries had been handled with care
Then he noted he still had a minute to spare So he surfed the wave rider, with nary a fall
While Dasher and Dancer scaled the rock-climbing wall And Prancer, who had always been fond of the cold
Tried the ice-skating rink, a sight to behold And then with a whistle, Santa summoned his team
And he bade us farewell, silent nights and sweet dreams And I heard him exclaim, as he flew out of view
Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good cruise. Written by Alan Fox, with appreciation and apologies to Clement Clarke
Moore, author of ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.