Tuesday, October 09, 2012
My first cruise
I just went on my first cruise. For most of my life I have always wanted to
go on a cruise. I had heard so much
about the food, the entertainment, the service, and the exotic ports of
call. For reasons too numerous to
mention, however, I just had never actually taken a cruise. I had signed up for the cruises.com website
and had received hundreds of emails with discounts and last-minute deals. A few weeks ago I decided that while I was in
Florida anyway, this would be my best opportunity.
(Actually, this was my second cruise, having been on a small
one when I was 15 years old, but that was not a pleasure-type cruise so I never
considered that a cruise vacation.)
Susan and I spent hours online looking at cruises and
comparing deals. She has been on several
cruises, and was my expert advisor. We
settled on a Royal Caribbean cruise from Port Canaveral to the Bahamas. I watched as the price dropped to a very low
lever, then watched again as that price disappeared. Frustrated, we finally called the website,
found the rate was still in effect and booked a trip. I was initially shocked at how the fees, etc.
raised our initial low rate. Still, I
thought this was a good deal.
Port Canaveral is about two hours from Susan’s house. We got to the terminal about 1:30 or so, and
joined thousands of others checking in.
The lines were long, but the process seemed pretty efficient, and in
about half an hour we were on the boat.
I expected that when we boarded there would be people right there at the
entrance with all kinds of useful information, like, for example, where your
stateroom would be. Surprisingly,
however, while I heard a band playing and saw lots of tables with people
selling excursions, and drink passes, and lots of stuff I did not want or need,
there were no guest services people immediately available.
We managed to find our cabin, which was roughly the size of a
most people’s master bathroom, unless you live in a big house, in which case it
was the size of your guest bathroom. How
small was it? My side of the bed was up
against the wall. Had the bed been turned 90 degrees, both the
head and foot of the bed would have been against the walls. Still, how much time do you spend in your
cabin on a cruise anyway? There was a
television. (I will say “Yea” to that,
while Susan would yawn. To paraphrase
Dire Straits: “I want my sports tv.”]
The first order of business was the lifeboat drill. As a first-time cruiser, the federal
requirement of a lifeboat drill did not inspire immediate confidence. However, many people equated it to the safety
announcements on an airplane that we have all heard a million times and have
stopped listening to, realizing that if the plane experiences problems I will
not be looking for the exit door pr the oxygen masks, I will need the
defibrillator. There did seem to be lots
of lifeboats, and since I expected no icebergs in the Caribbean in October, I
stopped worrying.
The decks were lined
with people as the boat set said at 4:30.
We stood on the top deck high above the ocean. It was a great view and exhilarating to be
underway. I was concerned about
seasickness, but I never felt the ship move the entire time. Ocassionally, it would vibrate when turning
around or something, but there was no feeling of rocking up and down at
all. If you closed your eyes you would
never think you were on a boat at all.
Cruises lines are selling escape. Phones don’t work, internet is available but
prohibitively expensive, all in an effort to make feel they are away. Alcohol is likewise available and expensive,
but not prohibitively so for most passengers.
Despite charges of $7-$8 a drink, liquor flows freely on a cruise
ship. The music is loud, the clothing is
garishly-colored and often scant. I saw
lots of tattoos.
Susan and I eschewed most of the party aspects of the cruise,
spending hours just sitting on deck enjoying the nice weather and ocean
breezes.
Despite all I had heard about the food, it was somewhat
disappointing in quality. It was not
bad, but fairly mediocre. Quantity,
however, was never a problem. They
served pizza almost 24 hours a day, I think.
Buffets, both daytime and midnight, offered wide variety in neverending
amounts. But the dinners in the dining
room, although served with attentive service by a congenial waiter, were not
terribly tasty. Even the desserts left
something to be desired.
The ship made two ports of call—Nassau in the Bahamas, and a
small island owned by Royal Caribbean called Coco Kay. We did not explore Nassau. I was curious about the massive Atlantis
hotel and casino complex, so we went directly there, rejected offers from all
kinds of helpful drivers at the end of the pier offering guided tours for
reasonable rates. Royal Caribbean’s
excursions ranged from merely expensive to eye-popping expensive. We could have done all kinds of water
activities and sightseeing adventures, with the most expensive costing more
than our entire trip. Susan had been to
Atlantis before and had seen a great deal of the facility, including the
aquarium. Times have changed apparently,
though. Without purchasing a $40 tour,
we were allowed to see only a small portion of the place, primarily a
somewhat-dated but very large casino (of which I think we saw only part). We left after a short time to make it back
for the “formal” dinner.
Formal obviously means different things to different
people. Some were very dressed up,
others no so much. And what constitutes
being nicely dressed is subject to a lot of interpretation. It was a nice change of pace from the usual
dinner attire, though. After dinner we
saw a magician/comedian, which sounds pretty bad, but actually was kind of
funny.
On Sunday we got up early to watch the sunrise. I took lots of pictures and some of them turned out very well. (Unfortunately, my camera is broken, I think.)
Coco Kay was basically a beach. There were lots of activities like
parasailing, jet skis, snorkeling, and kayak rental, but we just relaxed and
swam. I wanted to try a jet ski, which I
have never been on, but it was so expensive I decided to wait for another
opportunity. We enjoyed our time there,
but when we went back to the boat we spent a really enjoyable time in the saltwater
pool. I forgot how much saltwater holds
you up.
After dinner on Sunday we went to about the cheesiest show I
have ever seen. Some singers of varying
amounts of talent backed by rejects from “So You Think You Can Dance” performed
some pretty uninteresting song and dance numbers in what is probably the
epitome of shipboard entertainment. No
future Broadway stars there. The best
part of the evening was a mock “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” contest with a
very funny comedian using a fake (I think fake) accent to ask standard
questions with some very funny answers.
At any rate, we had a fun time. We did manage to get away, and still keep
track of the baseball and football scores.
Royal Caribbean is pretty efficient at most things, the entry onboard notwithstanding. Exiting the ship was a dream. Our bags met us as we disembarked and we were
out of the in a flash.
I would definitely like to go on another cruise. Now that I know seasickness is not a problem,
I would like to try a longer cruise.
Susan has taken some seven-day cruises which she enjoyed very much. Longer cruises allow the opportunity to see
more ports which are further away.
Hopefully, I will be in a position to do that. But for now, I can cross another thing off my
bucket list.
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