Room Service
Yesterday I spoke of the room service on this ship. Well, here’s a picture for you to feast upon.
Maui
January 19, 2014
Maui, Hawaii
So, one could ask “what is it about small ship cruising you like”?
Well, for starters, everything is close to your suite, it’s not a mile to the dining room. There are more square feet per guest than on the large ships. More crew per guest than the big ones. There is never a line for anything. There is always an open table at the restaurants, in the Grand salon and at any bar. There is a sense of community among guests and crew. The ships officers are always around and available to you. By the third day, all crew address you by name. There are several ports that cannot accommodate the large ships, so we get to go places that they don’t, and we often get to dock right in town while the big ships usually dock in a port or away from town. When we went to Antarctica, they allow ships with less than 300 passengers to get off the ship and explore the Islands, walk with the pinguins, while the large ships just tell you what you’re looking at. So, what makes Seabourn our choice of all ships? Seabourn is ultra all inclusive. Once you pay for the cruise, there is almost never that you are charged for anything. Tipping is not expected, if you want a bottle of top shelf liquor in your room, just ask and it will be delivered. If it happens to get a little light, they put a new full one behind the old one. I have a six pack of Lagunitas IPA in the refrigerator and it magically regenerates too. Free laundry, free internet, free specialty restaurant reservations. There is a charge for most excursions, but we usually prefer exploring on our own, taxi, uber, bus, etc. Jackets are never required and if you want to eat in your room, you can order anything from any restaurant during dinner time and they bring it to your room. It’s not just any old room service though, they set your table with white tablecloth, all the fixing of a formal set up. The food is always great.
All that to say the level of service is so far above would be considered normal.
I hope you enjoy learning more about our journey.
Hilo
January 18,2024
Aloha from Hilo on the big Island of Hawaii. Kim is already off shopping. I’m going to enjoy the warm air and read a book by the pool.
Last night we set our clocks ahead one hour for the second time. The only other time we crossed the Pacific Ocean we went from Japan to Alaska. Every other day we lost an hour. One would think that since we really didn’t do much each day, it wouldn’t really matter, but losing an hour several times had an effect on us.
Breakfast was from 7-9 each morning and as you know I never got there until just before 9, and the place was deserted. Well, as time went on I was joined by more and more fellow travelers. Everyone’s butts were dragging by the end of the trip.
One of the major reasons for picking this cruise is that it is sailing west. So, we get 25 hour days instead of 23 hour days. Much nicer.
They cancelled our stop at Christmas Island due to low tides and started the conversation about the Red Sea and how we might change course. That’s not until sometime in May, so fingers crossed it will all be resolved by then.
Tomorrow is Maui.
Tom
This is where our friend Tom worked when he was 13 on Catalina Island. Too bad it was closed rot the winter.
Sea Days
January 14-17,
Sea day #2.
Well, the best laid plans and all that stuff……
Once we were under way, I wrote a blog only to find I had no access to sailwest.net. For two days and many hours with the ships IT guy, and with the help of my IT guy (sc@clnw.com), no luck. So, I’ll keep writing every day or so, but I won’t be able to publish them until we reach shore. This is our longest sea days strung together and when we hit Hilo, I will publish everything I have written. What this means to you is if we are at sea, don’t look for any news on my blog.
Welcome to the great lake of the Pacific. All calm out here. But, as my good preacher friend said “this too shall pass”. I’m sure we will pay for these smooth sea days.
How do you do 5 days straight at sea? Don’t look at a calendar or clock. If you are hungry, eat, if thirsty, drink, if sleepy, hit the sack. I imagine you have figured out where I’m going with this.
I bought a subscription to NFL, com so I can watch the playoffs and the Superbowl. $6.99, money well spent unless you ask Kim.
Every day at noon our captain gives an update as to how we are doing. Today we are 1679 miles from Hawaii, 635 miles from the nearest land, a small uninhabited island. It’s 72 degrees outside. (sorry snowbound friends).
They brought this guy, Riaan Manser, on board to give us lectures. He is amazing. He has bicycled around Africa, Kayaked around Iceland, and when he proposed to his wife and asked where she would like to get married, she said Hawaii. So, they set off in a rowboat from San Francisco and rowed to Hawaii. His stories of the people he met is so wrought with emotion that it brought me to tears. Folks, we don’t have a clue how well we live our lives. Look him up, he has written several books. They have 2 or 3 lectures a day, We go with the attitude that if we are not interested at the 10 minute mark we will leave, happy to say we haven’t left yet.
Have you ever tried to weigh yourself on a moving ship? Can’t be done! The constant motion, though slight makes the scale to funny things to your weight. Gained 20 pounds oops lost 20 pounds 😉
Tomorrow is Hilo Hawaii! Land! 82 degrees on our veranda today. More later…….