A cruisy life - experiences on board a massive ship

Leaving Venice on our floating hotel we set sail (well, with an engine) throughout the northern Mediterranean. We decided it was time to fully explore the ship we would call home for the next three and a bit weeks. It was quite something! There was a large 5 star dining room, a two level show theatre, a little movie cinema, a disco, and a bunch of themed bars - the sports bar, a piano bar with a high quality 'piano man' playing every night, and the more refined bars where the jazz trio and string quartets mellowed away the evening hours as the folks drank brandy, port, and other well-aged grape juice.

Dessert night spectacular

Our favourite was the 'crows nest', which was at the top and front of the ship with wide expansive windows looking out to sea. It was here you could find the talented vocal and guitar artist who we initially bonded with over a mutual respect for John Mayer; and the ship's library, which had a good stock of travel books for the next ports so you could discover them on your own. Normally, we would do this sort of thing in advance, but well, we'd been kind of occupied for the last four months - so much of the world to see...!

**Swanborough's cruise tip #1 - Researching the logistics of your upcoming ports is worth every second (well, up to a point!).

You see, the prices for tours can be outrageously high on ships. Some you can easily find and do yourself on land, but as we discovered, if you really want to make the most of your cruise or there is a particular location you really want to see, sometimes you can get caught out and you may be better off booking a tour because transport may be hard to find or the prices might be comparable. At the halfway mark of our cruise we learnt about a handy little website - Tom's ports guide. Just google it and it should come up - it covers many of the more popular ports and is really, really handy.

A deck sunset

Totally relaxed and enjoying each others company

But I digress. Back to the library. Amanda and I both borrowed the maximum three books we were allowed each (in addition to those already downloaded to our iPads from the local libraries back home). With all the other activities available, this proved to be ambitious. I got through about 4 pages of one book before I wasted my time with the Hunger Games trilogy (but I had that little rant in a previous post so will spare you all from a repeat here!). I also read a fascinating book called, "Heaven is for real" about a 4 year old boy who goes to heaven. It was fascinating if you're at all curious about the idea of an afterlife or if there even is one. In fact it was one of the musicians on the ship who told me about it! The library was also home of the board games and puzzles. We enjoyed a couple of each and made a few new friends in the process. It was also the venue for the daily trivia challenge...

I'm not that great at Trivia. Amanda claims she's alright. We only played four times due to schedule clashes (shall we go to Tai chi, do some reading, partake of the special greek BBQ, take a swim/spa, or catch a movie?). But we made the most of it when we did play and we won twice. The first time we joined a team about three quarters of the way through and were passengers (they carried us). But there was a three way tie for first place. The tie breaker was... a paper airplane challenge. "I got this", I told the team. And I did. My plane went three times as far as any of the others and nearly took out some old gentleman's eye. I guess they only started teaching that particular life skill in Queensland schools in the late 80s?

The second time we won we couldn't find a team - most only had room for one extra player. I was about to let Amanda play while I watched, but at the last minute we decided to form our own team with some latecomers. This time we carried them. It was as though the questions were written for us. One in particular made us laugh, "who wrote the fairy tales 'cinderella', 'sleeping beauty' and something else". Many wrongly guessed the brothers Grimm. We had a secret advantage - just four or five weeks ago, while driving through Austria and Bavaria (the land of castles and fairy tales) we were listening to a random audiobook Amanda downloaded on fairy tales. At the start of every tale the reader dutifully read the words, "fairy tales by Charles Perault". So we scribbled down the answer and instantly seemed wise and learned to our more elderly team members!

Both times our victories were rewarded with our selection from the 'more crap to pack' collection of Holland America branded stuff and a bottle of champagne, which we shared at our dinner table in the evening to once again instantly make some new friends.

Venetian masquerade ball

Some enchanted evening

The crows nest was also our favourite bar because of a guy named Chris Toller, the vocal artist we mentioned above. He has a silky smooth voice and some nice guitar skills. He did a one man show every night for about 3-4 hours. And we thoroughly enjoyed it. Hopefully, he'll be back home by now and recording some stuff!

Ok, so we spent a bit of time in the crows nest. We also enjoyed the ship's many decks. We perched ourselves high up on one the second time we 'sailed away' from Venice or whenever we left other spectacular ports. We also enjoyed the many themed BBQs after a long day in port (what's that meal called that you have between afternoon tea and a four course dinner?). We also joined the afternoon Tai Chi class and while we weren't sure what to expect we found it to be great for my posture and muscle movements. The type we did was all about the muscle movement and being in control of your body - just what I needed. Unfortunately, it clashed with the free 'abs workout' class so that washboard stomach will have to wait until we get home.

Tai chi on the top deck with 'Lifestylist Ross'

I also did aqua aerobics a couple of times. It was pretty funny. There I was in a pool with 15-20 other people and most were at least twice my age. To add to this odd little picture, the instructor was a burly Zimbabwean named Ross who rides superbikes, used to play rugby for the Blue Bulls, and is on his way to becoming an aerobatics pilot - not exactly who I would picture as an aqua aerobics or tai chi instructor! But I still really enjoyed it and would have gone more often if I wasn't too busy sleeping in. I even convinced the highly skeptical Amanda to come once. To her credit she did. The thing is, we were sailing through a bit of a wee storm at the time. I reasoned if we could see the lightning off to the starboard side then it meant we were technically beside the storm so would be safe, right?? Needless to say, for the rest of the day we did what Amanda wanted to do.

[Amanda: it was pouring rain and there was lightening. The clouds were low and the ships deck was high...and we were in the pool! I truly was 'making my peace' during the aqua aerobics class should the worst eventuate! Thanks again Jahda, I love you too babe!]

Our time on board the ship was also filled with shows, 5 star four course meals, masquerade parties, belly dancers, game shows, and sometimes dancing well into the night at the disco or out on deck.

While the food was superb and there was plenty of entertainment, what really made our time on board so enjoyable was the people we met. They came from all walks of life and in a range of ages. We think we made friends with most of them:

- the American family we spoke to for almost an hour about the wheels and castors industry (it seems not many people ask details about castors/wheels and they were very happy to tell us!)

- the husband and wife who travelled regularly with her ex husband because they shared a son and they were all friends... ... Kind-of.

- the young woman traveling around on her own for a few months who could flirt with Italian police and get special treatment;

- the American couple we shared a car with up volcanic Mount Etna who were traveling to-and-through Europe for a few months with two of their young kids - all without flying because of height fears! (they had also left their youngest child back with grandma and skyped home every night!);

- the elderly lady that became like an old family friend to Amanda after just one dinner;

- the specialist counsellors from the Gold Coast who introduced us to the game 'upwords';

- the many Canadian's that regaled us with stories of bears, politics, and losing their dog in Saskatoon prairie lands where 'it's so flat you could lose your dog and watch it run away for three days';

- the ex SAS soldier and his wife who I'm sure were up early as we sailed past Gallipoli;

- the musical theatre performer from disneyland; and

- many other interesting and delightful people.

It seems cruise ships attract all types. And we were glad ours did.

We also made friends with a bunch of the crew - well, the entertainers and lifestyle guys at least. This was largely because many were closer to our age than many of our fellow passengers (not that we minded). It also had its advantages...

**Swanborough's cruising tip #2 - when looking for free internet at port, follow the crew.

Making friends with the crew also led to a money-can't buy experience in Dubrovnik, Croatia - but more on that in our next post or two, where we get off the ship and explore some fantastic Mediterranean ports.

J.