Sea Days, Laundry, Food, and Activities

                        Our Days at Sea can be both repetitive and easing at the same time. They are never boring. This is because the Ship does its job well and along with its Staff, they make sure that…..

…there is plenty to do (if don’t you want to)

…and……

…plenty not to do (if you do want to!)

                                                Confused?

                                                Don’t not be!

                                                Life aboard a long-distance cruise is not anything like a glorious 7-Day Getaway to destinations selected. An extended Cruise is an experiment in living with life-altering results. It is impossible not to be affected by spending a selected amount of continuous time with strangers that eventually become friends. Only if you undertake a Voyage of Months with the idea of being a recluse in order to finish that novel that’s been left undone for too long can you not end up with getting to know someone else.

                        My original thought on all of this has reversed course over the past two Long-Distance Expeditions of Global Exploration.

                        Originally, I was petrified of getting on board, being assigned to a dinner table with eight other travelers. This would be fine except I was positive that there would be the usual guy at the table who was a total blowhard, would never shut up, so no one else could get a word in edgewise and I would end up being the only one left at the Table because all of the rest had the guts to switch tables, and I would be stuck there because I didn’t want to hurt anyone else’s feelings.        

                        Ok, I got that off of my chest.

And I found a solution, or at least I thought that I had.

A Table for two (only!)

This does fix my problem once and for all. 

But it is contrary to those who are not working on their novels. On board, the pace of the Acquisition of Acquaintances is like speed-dating on steroids.  Normal time periods are condensed and warped as if they were entering the time-space continuum on the event horizon of a Black Hole.

                                    That is, really fast!

For example (in everyday Terrestrial Suburban Life) we move into a new area, or get a new job, etc. and in the course of PTA meetings where the Mom’s eventually meet, talk, see each other at Pick-up Time, and sooner or later get to the point where they say, “Let’s have a Play Date!”  In due course, the Dad’s meet at a soccer game, and this goes on for months until someone gets invited over for a BBQ. Onward and upward the relationship goes until years later you’re scheduling vacations together!

            Quite normal, expected, and satisfying.

            We are social animals.

            Here on the water, confined to the microcosm of the Ship with a specific number of souls on board, it is hard not to get to know someone. It is now that ‘crunched timeline’ makes its play and soon the effects of spending basically 24 hours, Three Meals (plus snacks!) a day, Excursions, Trivia Contests, and Beverage Imbibing Sessions together all take their toll and in no time the phones come out, grandkids photos are being bragged over, common past destinations examined and compared, and soon enough, seriously fast friendships are born.

            We hastened that process even further on the World Cruise when I requested a table for four. The deal I made with the Matre’d was that we would let Nancy the hostess fill the other two seats with folks that wanted to ‘share’ or we would tell Nancy that we had the seats filled for the night with a couple that we wanted to invite. This worked incredibly well and got to the point where we met several folks that we wanted to spend more time with, so they had standing invitations to specific nights of the week. Harold and Sherry, Darla and Sandra, Steve and Sandi, and Brian and Kristine are all folks that we met on board and have visited several times in the past two years since that Cruise.

            No worries about being stuck at the Big Table suffering from insufferable insufferables!

Breakfast and Lunch in the Dining Room are two totally different experiences from Dinner. Tables are not reserved, but you can opt for ‘shared’ if you want to have some nice conversations, get to meet some new peeps, and not be bound forever to them. Upstairs on Deck 16, the Buffet is obviously always available up until around 11 pm when the service reverts to the 24-hour International Café. Here is an example of common sense and where the real preferences of passengers take over. The reality is that only a handful of passengers even want to eat a full meal or graze to their hearts content at 2:30 AM so, having all of that available all the time is quite a waste of money and resources, like labor. That means that the days of the Midnight Buffet and the like are reserved for special occasions and that practicality takes over the rest of the time. But rest assured, if the Munchies, Snackies, or Mealies take hold of you at some ungodly time of the night/morning, that all you need to do is visit the International Café or call Room Service and select something from their very adequate menu. Problem Factor Zero!

We have opted more and more to hit the Dining Room even for Breakfast and Lunch. The portions are intelligent, and the service is understated and quite nice. The hustle and bustle of upstairs in the Buffet where jockeying for position to get to the Bacon has developed into an art form, and trying to find a seat (there are plenty but getting a good one by the huge windows can be daunting) as you wander around following each other and then finally realizing that you should have settled on the first one that you saw, is frustrating. These are not negatives, just again, realities that have alternatives, aka the Dining Room. It does take longer in there, but if you’ve got enough time before your next nap or event, then it’s very nice to just sit and be served. And it’s all included.

                        As I alluded to, Days at Sea can be somewhat repetitive. The shows are always changing but the static aspects of shipboard life remain somewhat constant. Trivia is at 10:00 and 4:00, Fitness Stuff is in the morning, the Shoppes are open all day and into the evening (they must be closed while in Port), add in a myriad of other Activities all planned and supervised by an incredible Cruise Director and their Staff, throw in some Food (!) and the ensuing recipe yields enough fun for all of those that are not sunning themselves out by the Pool!

                        I also said that the Days at Sea were ‘easing’ or maybe restoring. This is because Cruising can be a tad hectic and is not necessarily a good way to deeply experience specific locations. Do you remember the movie from the late ‘60’s titled, “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium”? That title alone can describe the Wham! Bam! aspect of many Port Days in a row. At its best, cruising can deliver a very satisfying taste of a region or city, enough so that it may trigger a return visit for a lengthier, in depth, stay. But the repetitive actions of ‘on and off ‘ the ship, ‘in and out’ of vans or buses, in and out of sites and sights, Port Procedures, etc. can, and do, have an effect on us. Mind you, this is in no way a complaint! It is just a comment on this reality. There are in fact, folks that rarely get off of the ship. These passengers are not here for the travels, they have already accomplished that part of it. They are here for a place to stay and live for a goodly amount of time. (continued below)

 For example, I have probably more Cruise Days than most people on the planet……. with the exception of those that have more days.😊

“Gee Donny, thanks for clearing that up!”

Wait! I’m not finished yet!

We consider ourselves to be rather well traveled….. until….

Until we get aboard one of these Longer-Than-Normal Cruises where it seems that everyone has at least accomplished what we have and then significantly more! When this Cruise is over, I will have amassed 256 days of cruising in my lifetime and Paula is only a few weeks behind that. We have met, on board, folks with over 1200 days of cruising on just Princess ships alone! Some of these people come under the heading of what I was alluding to before and who we shall call, “Exist Aboards”.

Many of these E.A.’s do not contribute much either to the bottom line of the Company or to the daily experience on board. They are here to simply occupy a stateroom, get as many “freebies’ as possible and constantly look for ways that the Cruise Line is “ripping them off” (that’s a quote).

As much as we would like to think that we may enjoy that many days cruising, the reality is that affording that many days on board (however Value-packed they are) is financially prohibitive, but definitely attractive for many reasons!

In your Basic Fare, (which is usually competitive) these are included:

• All your food, served to you all the time, (NEVER cook again!)

• Full cabin steward service all the time, (NEVER clean again!)
• Entertainment all the time, (Never pay for a ticket again!)      

• And….. (when you get to this level) NEVER do laundry again!

            If you do not buy a Drink Package, Wi-Fi Package, or contribute to the Daily Allowance for Gratuities (which are optional), don’t go to the Casino, and don’t go on Excursions, then that Basic Fare will get you on board where you will just exist nicely, but that’s about it. This type of passenger is, in fact, not a good customer for the Cruise Line and I will go to an extreme to make an example. If all of the cabins were filled with this type of passenger then the Line would have two options, either cease doing business or be forced to raise Basic Fares where they would cover major operating expenses. The Cruise Lines business model is not based on those E.A.’s. It is based on folks coming aboard and spending some extra monies for things that enhance their Vacation Experience and in so doing, helping the Cruise Line make a profit, which I’d like to point out is not a dirty word. Take that from anyone who has been involved in any type of business, either running it or being employed by.

                        It is interesting to listen to some of these E.A,’s talk about their upcoming plans….

 “When we get to Fort Lauderdale, we get off of this one and get on the Sapphire Princess for a 21-day to the Caribbean and then when that’s over we sit for a day or so before we can get back on here for a re-positioning to Los Angeles where it will stay on the West Coast for the Alaska runs. After that we may stay for a bit or go home and look at some other cruises in a few months.”

That is an example that can be overheard at any time, and I promise you is not an exaggeration, especially considering the Level of the passengers on board.

            Like all Transportation Companies, Princess has levels of loyalty that can be attained by spending more time with them. I think that the airlines started this way back because the term Frequent Flyer Miles has become generic to just about any Rewards Program across the business models.

            Anyway, we have obviously stuck with Princess for many reasons and this concept works when it comes to loyalty and the value of that. Paula and I have both attained the Elite Level of Passenger Loyalty and this comes with a laundry list of perks, including these highlights:

– Discounted Wi-Fi and Insurance (both of these amount to some serous dollars)

– Free minibar in our room (which we give away to the Staff!)

– Preferred status on the long lines that form for any event including debarkation and Tender Ports,

The status of wearing that Black colored Medallion (Levels are color coded, newbies are White, then Gold, Ruby, Platinum, and finally Elite) which on this and the World Cruise is akin to the old saying, “Yea, that and a quarter will get you a cup of coffee” because most folks on here are Elite. Which means that the most important feature of attaining Elite Level gets diminished. 

              That feature is Free Laundry!

 Before getting this Important Feature, most of the time you would use one of the Laundromats conveniently located on each deck That is unless you wanted to pay about $3.00 for each one of your undies to be laundered! So getting this for free is a big deal! ……until….

                        Until everyone has it and the Laundry Mavens have a ton of undies to wash and fold! Now this requires some intensive planning because there is no way that you can get your laundry back from downstairs in anything less than three or four days! So, that thought of bringing a lot less clothing on board for the Big Trip requires some strategic thinking because you need to build in that Lag Time and plan accordingly.

                        Many a passenger has washed something out in the sink (like us!) or made a trip to the Laundromat for an occasional “Fill In” load. This is done usually before 4AM so that I don’t have to deal with the masses and fight for a dryer when my load is ready. I’ve heard nightmares of folks travelling from deck to deck in search of unused machines. I can’t even handle that so it’s way easier to just get up and do it all at once while everyone else is sleeping!

                        One of the other perks is the Captain’s Reception Cocktail Party where you can mingle with the Captain and his staff. On this one, and the World Cruise, that Party needed to be held over two days with two separate times assigned each day because tons of folks qualified for this Event.

                        It only makes sense that the percentage of Elites would increase as the voyages got longer. This is what everyone does, it’s that simple.

                        In contrast, let’s go back to the 7-Day Cruise in the Caribbean. This cruise has lots of Newbies and a lot more “Occasionalsies” aboard. Embark on this one and your Elite status sticks out like a whale breaching right next to the Ship!

                        You may even get your laundry back the same day!