Cruise 2009 part 4 (Days at Sea)

As much fun as the ports of call are, the best part of a transatlantic cruise is the long stretch of sailing on the open seas with no land in sight, and nothing to get off the ship for.

And the best part of a typical day at sea is the formal or semi-formal dining - in this case, on deck three in the Romeo and Juliet dining room:


harB waits for the lovely hostess to come put the napkin in his lap. Photo by Wm.

It's a chance to be pampered, in a way that you cannot remotely expect back at home, no matter how attentive your spouse may try to be. After being seated, the lovely hostess comes by and places your napkin in your lap for you. That's the only reason for the first plate to be there - to hold that little napkin in place in anticipation of your arrival. The ladies are then presented with formal little menus, so they can choose an appetizer or two, and the main course as well. (Dessert comes later). Men get their menus soon after.

Appetizers can be anything from salads to cold fruit soups to escargot. Yes, I said snails, drenched in garlic butter. And yes, it's delicious - but kids, don't try this at home.

Anneline, our attentive and skilled server, made sure that every meal we had in that room was better than the one before. We made sure that harB took it easy at dessert time, but you know how hard it is for him to resist a good chocolate.



A triple chocolate dessert, with dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate all on the same tray. Photo by GA.

Between meals, there are endless activities, scattered among the various rooms and decks on the ship. Here is harB, watching the fun from the arms of one of the decorations on the hallway into the Pyramid Lounge, where many of the best activities are held:


Photo by Wm

Some of my favorite activities are:

• Karaoke - this is done in a lounge set aside for just that, complete with its own bar, several TV monitors so you can see the words whichever way you want to face, and plenty of songs to choose from. On special occasions, they even have a live band to play behind you. Try that in a bowling alley.
• Trivia - I didn't even try to do that this cruise, because some of those players take it too seriously. They will argue and fight over the precise meaning of the question or answer in the attempt to score one more crappy keychain.
• Seminars - I mentioned before that they had a guy teaching about digital photography, but there was also a former Los Angeles District Attorney, who gave us the inside scoop on such cases as the Manson murders, the assassination of Robert Kennedy, the Marilyn Monroe case, and others. This was way interesting, and very informative, since he was able to show us evidence that he wasn't allowed to introduce into trials and press conferences. As a result of one of these seminars, I am now convinced that Norma Jean was not only murdered, but that it was done on behalf of the Kennedy family. Just my opinion, of course.
• Ice shows - Great skaters from all over the world show off on the ice rink in one of the lower decks. Jennifer from Russia was especially amazing. These shows were so popular that they had to issue tickets given out early in the morning.
• Theatre entertainment - these included Broadway style revues, singers, and a very good hypnotist. The broadway style shows were better than any I have ever seen, which may have something to do with the size of the ship and the number of passengers.

And I have to tell you about the hypnotist. Now, I'm not going to take a position on whether hypnotism is fake or just a show or if it's real. I don't know. But this guy was good. His main show was very entertaining, and he's billed as the world's fastest hypnotist. Apparently, he's well-known in England, though he was new to me.

He got about forty volunteers from the audience, started to work on them, and I suppose he was looking for some subtle sign telling him if they were going to go under faster or at all, or if they were going to try to fake him out. He got rid of any who had been drinking immediately, and then pulled those who weren't going to be fast enough, and kept the best eight or so. Other than the speed at which he got the show going, I guess it was pretty standard stuff... except that he arranged an unscheduled, midnight performance for those who were young enough to stay awake that late. This one was an "adult" performance, with no kids allowed. Now this one was definitely not your normal hypmotize show. I won't go into details, but it was bizarre and incredibly funny.

Now I find that I cannot remember his name. I wonder if he... no, surely not.

Bottom line: if you want the best value for your vacation dollar, I recommend a repositioning cruise with Royal Caribbean cruise lines, and extend the vacation with a couple of days in a hotel at the other end of the cruise. You can't go wrong with Spain or England.

Thank you for reading these blogs, assuming you stayed with me this far. Leave a comment and let me know if you liked it.

Cruise 2009 part 2 (France)

We began the actual cruise on November 23rd. GA arranged for us to get to the ship from London by taking a limo service - well, actually a "private car service," using a van. This was actually cheaper than taking the cruise shuttle, because we shared it with three other cruisers, thus splitting it five ways. An added bonus was that the driver stopped at a grocery store on the way, so we could buy our liquid supplies, but mostly so we could buy me some McVities cookies, in the ginger nut and shortbread varieties.

Boarding wasn't bad at all, even with the fact that the Independence is a huge beast cramming 3800 passengers into its vast belly. The lines were long, but they moved quickly, and we were all processed efficiently.

We knew our cabin wouldn't be ready this early, but the Windjammer was open - that's the dining area where you can get just about anything from the buffet. On a previous cruise, we had made friends with some people on Cruise Critic, and it was great to see them in person. This time, for whatever reason, there were very few people we hit it off with on that discussion board. There were a few, mind you, but not so many - and they were hard to find on such a huge ship.

We made a brief tour of the ship, as best we could, bearing in mind that on a ship this size, you can't see everything with a brief stroll. There are three formal dining areas on the beast, on decks three through five, named "Romeo and Juliet," "MacBeth," and "King Lear" respectively. Of course, we were careful to refer to the one on deck four as the "Scottish Play dining room."


GA snickering at the name of the dining room on deck four. Photo by Wm

GA surprised me with a balcony on our cabin - a little more expensive, yes, but it certainly made the cruise even more pleasant, especially since a view of the sea is such a long hike from the inner cabins, and since they were usually crowded, with the chairs already taken most of the time.

The first full day of the cruise, we docked on the coast of France, and took the bus excursion to Paris. There, we saw the Eiffel Tower (of course) as well as dozens of sites in Paris seen from our bus windows, including the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Louvre, and the Champs Elyseese. At the tower, we were allowed to wander around on our own for a few hours, so we logged three geocaches, all within sight of the Eiffel Tower.


Wm, GA, and harB near the Eiffel Tower. Photo by unknown tourist.



The third of these caches was the Liberty Flame, a virtual cache, which means you get credit for it not by signing a physical log, but by taking a photo of yourself holding the GPS in front of it. This was not only the cache farthest from our home coordinates, but was also the farthest point we had ever been from our own front porch, since it was the farthest east of the bus waiting for us. 5,040 miles from home is a long way - this could be hard to beat. Everything after this on the cruise would be heading westward, toward home sweet home.


GA and harB at the Liberty Flame. Photo by Wm

While trying to discreetly log La passerelle avec une vue superbe, a woman came up to us to show us what appeared to be a gold ring which she had found. It was actually a brass ring, and she was trying to get us to accept it and then give her money as a reward. Several other folks on the bus later told us they had been approached with the same scam, but by different people.

The bus trip was a blast, partly because we were seated near that rare commodity, a British lady with a sense of humor. Our tour guide had been trying to tell us the history of France's involvement in WWII, and since we were a bus full of Americans and Brits, she was kind of stammering through it and trying to justify the fact that the French had given up without firing a shot and had simply let the Germans in to rule them. "Don't mention the war," said our British friend, reminding us all of that famous Fawlty Towers episode. Laughter broke out in the rear of the bus, and I'm sure the guide wondered what was so funny.

We had intended to find a little sidewalk café where we could have bread and wine and a rude waiter, but there weren't any cafés close enough to the tower to do that, so we had a delicious panini from a local vendor, and ate it while sitting on a park bench. Life is good.

Of course, life isn't perfect. Public toilets are not easy to find in Paris, but there was fortunately one placed very near the tower, but it was so busy that there was a traffic director stationed at the bottom of the stairs saying "one man," or "two women," whichever became available. Of course he said it in French, so it was "un homme" or some such. Hey, I don't speaka de French.

The architecture is beautiful in Paris, and the only problem I saw with it was that horrible, ugly glass pyramid in front of the Louvre. I cannot believe they have that eyesore in front of such a beautiful building.

The next day, the ship docked at another port in France, this time for our excursion to the American Cemetery, just above Omaha Beach. This was a solemn occasion. On the way back, our guide pointed out the cemetery where they buried the German soldiers. It was marked by a giant black cross, and we were told that the families of these soldiers were required to pay the burial expenses.

But the American Cemetery is treated with respect by the French, well cared for, and protected by French soldiers. It made me feel good.


Grave markers at the American Cemetery in France. Photo by Wm.


Next: Spain and Portugal