Day 1 - Getting To Know The Ship: My Cruise Blog (2114 hits)
We wake up at the sound of our alarm, but we all stay in bed. Yes, we are lazy like that. Slowly but surely, we start to get up - a hour past the time when we were supposed to get up. They say that it is best to arrive at the boat at least 2 hours before the scheduled departure, but we do not want to risk it - we will be there 3 hours before. We pack our bags and call a shuttle. Luckily the hotel we are staying at is accustomed to lodging cruisers so they have a complimentary hotel to ship shuttle service which is right up our alley. Since we woke up kinda late, we skip the breakfast and decide we can eat once we get on board the ship.
We finally arrive at the pier. There are so many people here - checking their bags in at the curb and what not. Taxis, shuttles, buses, and cars going in and out - people everywhere. I'm glad we left ourselves some time to go through this and any line waiting we have to do. We quickly unload our stuff and make sure that we have appropriate cruise ship name tags on our bags. I forgot to put one on one of my bags, so I ask a stevedore for an extra tag and quickly fill it out and put it on my bag. I tip the stevedore about $4 for handling my 2 bags. The stevedore is responsible for getting my bags to the ship so I best make sure they get there.
We are now waiting in line for appropriate registration and getting our room keys. It is a long line but the line is moving fast and in no time we are next in line. After a little talk and passport showing, we are handed our room keys which resemble a hotel key card with the magnetic strip. We were told that this is our room key as well as our "charge card" - so if we want to purchase anything on the ship, even excursions, we can just present our card and it will be added to our charge account. Each person's account is separate and at the end of our cruise, we will be presented a bill which we can review and validate the charges before it gets charged to our credit cards. Gerald did not have a credit card, but it was ok. He basically handed over $200 cash and $200 was added to his charge card. If he needed more money on his charge card, he only needs to go to the Guest Relations desk on the ship and add more money to the card - kinda like the Pay Pal credit card.
So that chapter is over with and we are walking across the plank to get on the ship. The ship is quite large. In the magazines they look big, but up close and in person, they are huge! Once inside, I was amazed at the decorum. It kinda looked like a glitzy hotel or something. Nice looking carpeting, elevators, lavish looking stairs and rails that wind in a spiral down to the deck below and up to the deck above. The first thing we want to do is locate our rooms. We follow the signs in the ship as well as make use of the ship map that was given to us at registration. It takes us a little bit but we finally find our room and walk in.
Not too bad. Typical of what I expected from looking at the rooms on the cruise line's web site. We walk in and immediately to our left is a door to the bathroom. The bathroom itself is quaint but spacious enough to do what we gotta do. Fitting 2 people in there might be a stretch, but doable - not sure why 2 people would be in the bathroom at the same time either. Nothing spectacular about it - a sink with amenities like shampoo, lotion, mouthwash in a basket; a toilet; and a shower with a small step down and no door, just the shower curtain to separate the shower from the rest of the bathroom. I brought some shower shoes with me just in case. You can never be too sure.
Continuing on into the room, it opens up to a small, open walled room that fits a couch, a decent sized desk, closet space, a wall mirror, and the TV. I guess this would be considered the living room. Then finally, on into the bed space, I see 2 beds. OK, so like ... there are 3 of us - how is this going to work? We quickly check the couch to see if it is a pull out or not. Some rooms have them, some rooms don't. This one didn't. OK, so what is going to happen? As we look at each other trying to secretly figure out how we are going to claim one of the beds and have the odd man out sleeping on the floor, our room steward walks in to greet us. She introduces herself and tells us if we need anything to let her know. The first thing out my mouth is where is the third person going to sleep. She laughs for a bit and walks over to one of the beds, pulls out an odd looking key and then points to what looks like a lock on the wall. Apparently, the third bed is kinda like a bunk bed that pulls out from the wall, as well as a fourth bed if there were 4 people in the room. AHH, so that's how that works. Unfortunately, I am still the odd man out, and get the upper bed to sleep in.
Our bags have not arrived at our room yet so we are left with the clothes on our backs and the carry on bags we packed. Good thing I packed my swim trunks in my carry on, just in case I get the urge to dip in one of the pools. After we finish looking over our rooms, we head out to explore the ship. The two main things we are looking for are the pools and the food. So we head to one of the elevators to get to the Lido deck where all the pools are. The elevator ride is nice and smooth, but moving slower than anticipated. Once we get off, we are greeted by the first pool. I am almost tempted to put on my trunks and dive in, but I want to explore the ship more. A though and quick trip around the Lido deck proved useful. Aside from 2 pools and a couple of spas on this deck, the Lido deck is also home to soem staterooms, a few bars, and of course - food! There's a pizzeria; a grille that serves burgers, hot dogs, and fries; and a buffet restaurant with a Deli and Mexican Grill. The pizzeria and grille were closed at the moment, but the buffet was on and poppin! Sound like a great time to eat! The food selection is great. After we slam, we head to other decks of the ship to look around.
We check out the Venetian Palace and the card game rooms before we glimpse a peek into one of the main dining rooms where we will be eating dinner. Next we slip by the Guest Services desk and make our way to the Promanade. The Promanade hosts a few shops where we can buy items, but we are just looking right now. We might buy some stuff before we end our cruise. The lounges and bars we pass by seem nice enough to chill at and let the piano man play his tunes. Next stop is the video arcade. It's not as lavish as a mall arcade, but it suffices if you feel the need to hit the sticks. We also pass by the night club which I'm sure we will visit later on tonight. Then of course, there's the Casino. Unfortunately, the machines are not turned on yet. Supposedly, once we get out to sea in international waters, then the casino will open.
On one of the upper decks, we spot another eating spot, Fish N Chips! I will definitely be making a few visits there. There is also a nice sized water slide that I am contemplating on using tomorrow. Up a few more decks, I spot the exercise/fitness section of the ship ... the spa, gym, weights, massage, etc. I'm not much of a fitness type person so I don't think I'll make any rounds in there during my trip, but my buddies seem interested so we walk around there for a bit. Gerald tried to show his strength off and loaded some weights on a Nautilus system and did a few reps. He tried to get me on it and lift some, but I did not want to pull any muscles and risk ruining my trip. So we continue on.
Ahoy! What do we have here? A basketball court? Nice. It is enclosed in a net-like tent so that the ball doesn't go flying off the ship.We get on the court and start looking for a ball, but we do not see one. We see what seems like a big chest/locker that is locked and we deduce that the balls are in there. Oh well, I will dunk on these cats another day. Aside from the court which is transformable to a volleyball or tennis court, there is a nice sized jogging track going around this area so if I need to get my jogging on, I know where to go now.
The next deck features the play area for kids called Camp Carnival. We just snuck a quick peek and continued on. Last but not least we feast our eyes on and even larger water slide on the top-most deck ... going all the way down to the pools. OK, I am definitely going to use this slide tomorrow. It looks like they stole a slide from a big water park and pasted it on the ship.
So our initial tour is done. It is now time to go back to the room and relax a little. As we head down the halls, we see people's luggage waiting outside doors. They told us this is how you get your luggage. Once they get on the ship, the luggage would be delivered to your room and if you are not there, it will be waiting for you outside your door. Luckily for us, our luggage was sure enough waiting. We thrown our suitcases into the room and start unpacking things that need to be unpacked. Me? I'm comfortable living out of my suitcase so I barely unpack anything. I turn on the TV and take a little nap on the couch.
It is dinner time. We head to our assigned restaurant and then to our assigned seating within the restaurant. the way it is set up reminds me of an expensive restaurant. The wait staff is nice and brought us our drinks. One peek at the menu and I was amazed.
For starters: Asparagus Velouté, Cured Salmon and Candied Tomato, Fried Chicken Tenders, Marinated Cucumber and Lettuce, Beef and Barley Soup, Gazpacho Andalouse, Black Tiger Shrimp Cocktail, Caesar Salad
Then for the main course: Pan Seared Fillet of Tilapia, Sweet and Sour Shrimp, Chicken à la Grecque, Grilled New York Strip Steak from Black Angus Beef, Linguini with Italian Sausage, Bell Peppers and Mushrooms, Indian Vegetarian Dinner, Broiled Fillet of Fresh Norwegian Salmon, Grilled Breast of Corn Fed Chicken, and Barbecued Baby Back Ribs.
Not to mention desert:
Grand Marnier Souffle, Cappuccino Pie, Diet Apple Pie, Warm Melting Cake, Tropical Fruit Plate, Ice Cream, Sherbets, Cheeses ...
... and all this was just on one menu for this one night! Wow! I see that I will not be suffering from malnutrition during this trip. A week of not settling on eating a bowl of cereal and a sandwich for dinner is refreshing. Hey, what can I say. I'm a bachelor!
After filling our bellies with all that delicious food, I head back to the room to grab more sleep while Will and Gerald hit the ship. Later that night, we hit the club and enjoy the tunes and meet new people. When we leave the club, we take a walk up on the decks into the dark, dark, night at sea. It is so dark out here. If someone was to fall overboard, that would be it for them. Imagine you were in a pitch black room and you lit a single match. That is what it seemed like. After procrastinating and lazing around on the upper decks, we finally make our way back to the room. Overall, it was a successful launch to my week long break.
