There’s something comforting about boarding a ship you’ve sailed before. Though I don’t claim to remember where exactly everything is, it all looks familiar. I’d wager I don’t have quite the deer-in-the-headlights look of some of the first time cruisers I’ve seen stumbling about. Of course this is our sixth Celebrity sailing, so the whole experience, whatever the ship, has a familiar ambience.
It is also my twenty-fifth sailing, starting with a 1954 Pacific crossing on a forgotten military transport ship taking my Mom, brother and me to Yokohama to rejoin my Dad after his service in Korea. I’ve loved sailing ever since. I did four in the 70s with my friend Don (Queen Anna Maria, Mardi Gras and Carla C -- which left, as this one will, from San Juan -- and QE2); one with my parents and a friend (Song of America); two transatlantic crossings on QE2, one alone, one with Sergio, my friend and Ransom’s former student; a Rhine River cruise with Don in 1995; two orchestra cruises with Ransom conducting Solisti New York (Holland America’s Rotterdam, once in the Caribbean and once to Alaska); a wonderful week on the Norway (the once mighty and elegant SS France) with my “sister” Elaine; and then many with just Ransom: in the Caribbean, from New York to Bermuda, through the Panama Canal, from Vancouver to Hawaii and, most recently, from Rome to Bayonne.
(And is that a sentence worthy of the young Faulkner, or what?)
We love being on a ship. We eat well, we sleep well and mostly, we relax. Don’t do the variety shows, don’t do the comedy shows, don’t play bingo or visit the casino. We just vegetate and recharge. This itinerary includes a day at sea tomorrow and then five island stops: Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Maarten and St Thomas. It’s likely we won’t get off the ship at any of them since we’ve been to them all and since the ship is such a pleasant place to be when most of the hoi, and a lot of the polloi, leave it.
One intriguing feature of this ship is the specialty dining room, Normandie.
Quick primer for those who don’t know: used to be that all food was included in the cost of your cruise ticket. You could eat in the dining room or at the lido buffet. Those options still exist, but one can also choose to spend more money and eat in a “specialty” restaurant. When this concept debuted there would be one such place onboard and it came with a nominal charge, maybe $10. Now there are ships with four, five or more such choices, and the tariff goes up to $75 per person. Not outrageous for a wonderful meal maybe, but remember, you’ve already paid for that meal once.
As for the Normandie: she’s a gourmet restaurant with a traditional and elegant service in a beautiful room (pictures below) that features artifacts from the first class dining room of the SS Normandie, the most beautiful ship that ever sailed. We ate there years ago and quite enjoyed it -- not sure if we will go there again. We’ll see.
It’ll partly depend on the food in Blu, our assigned restaurant. Another innovation: we’re in Aqua Class, a Celebrity category that emphasizes a lighter, healthier, more active spa-related lifestyle. If the experience there is fine, we may not venture further.
As with all decisions on board, we will make this one when we have to. No pressure. The word of the day is: relax.
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