When I used to go on cruises with my parents in my youth, days at sea were a blessing. No schedule, few rules. I could play in the pool with my new found friends and eat ice cream all day as long as I was in the cabin in time to shower and dress for dinner. It’s a bit different this trip as the weather is not conducive to splashing about the pool for anyone over 12 – sunny and upper 60s is a lovely break from the heat and thunderstorms of the midwest summer but it does mean that the default leisure activities need to be reassessed.
Life aboard this ship has been very entertaining so far. My experiences in the past have all been on ships that sailed from the US and therefore catered to Americans. Not so for this trip. There is a variety of Europeans aboard – we like playing “guess the language/accent” as we wander about the ship – and people seemed genuinely surprised that we chose to fly to Europe just for this cruise. (We don’t bother to explain that we would be flying over the Atlantic anyway to see family. That’s TMI for most casual conversations.) Because there is no majority population on the ship, the language requirements are pretty impressive. Every major announcement is done in at least 6 languages: English, Italian, German, French, Spanish, and Portuguese. Menus, printed signs, order forms… everything in multiple languages. Bingo by the pool takes forever! There are some things written in Greek and Russian as well. I haven’t yet figured out what the default language for greetings should be. On one hand, we sailed from Germany so it might be “Morgen” but the cruise line is Italian so maybe it should be “Ciao”. Of course, the staff are very international: our cabin steward and most of the bar/wait staff are Filipino but the majority of the photographers and tour staff seem to be Ukrainian. As a result, English seems to be common denominator and there is nothing more entertaining that watching two non-native English speakers hold a conversation (or an argument!) in English.
For example, I was sitting on deck reading my book after breakfast this morning when a woman asked to join me at my table. If I had to guess, I would say she was probably Italian from the few words we exchanged. She had a plate full of food from the buffet and had brought it outside to sit in the sunshine. A waiter came by and she ordered peach juice (?!?) and a bottle of water. He was from the Philippines according to his name tag. He delivered it and then gave her the bill. An animated exchange then ensued as to whether or not the package she had purchased for the trip included peach juice from the bar during breakfast hours. It was all I could do to not put my Kindle down and watch the drama unfold before me. (BTW, she apparently won the argument although “the manager” had to be informed.)
It has been a while since we have been on a cruise. Okay, it’s been 10 years. Therefore, I can’t say that I am an expert in these things but given that I have had many experiences with all-inclusive travel, I can compare things with other such types of trips. While I am completely sympathetic to the idea that having things somewhat a la carte allows one to choose what to pay for, it does make life a little more awkward. We opted not to get the “all you can drink” package – try not to be too shocked! – because I didn’t want to feel that we needed to consume more than the $90 daily charge in alcohol every day. For this, I was happy to be able to be selective. We did by the “we are semi-serious about wine” package so we get a more than decent bottle of wine with dinner every night. Apparently, that part is reflected on our cruise card – the onboard card that is required for pretty much everything you want to do -but it doesn’t include wine by the glass. No problem – we know that and expect to pay for what we drink. When we ordered a glass of Bordeaux with lunch today, the waiter asked for our card and scrutinized a code somewhere, looked at us quizzically, conferred with another waiter, and then returned to our table looking downcast and explained that it wasn’t included in our package. When we told him we knew that and would be happy to pay by the glass (about $5), he looked confused. It seemed to me that it would have been easier for the staff and passengers alike if there was just the ability to order without requiring consultation with an accountant. And I know that not everyone drinks so therefore it’s not fair to charge the non-drinkers for what we alcoholics consume but that’s a moot point here. Even the water costs money – a bottle of mineral water is about $2.50 and Pepsi is $1.50 a can. The prices are very reasonable by hotel/travel standards but it is still a lot of nickel and diming IMHO.
What is included – for the most part – is the food. You can’t possibly go hungry on board even if you might be thirsty. There are multiple options for eating and you can eat 24/7 while on board. The cafeteria/buffet serves food continuously from 6am until 10:30pm, for example. There are also two restaurant style options. We have first dinner seating (6pm) for one of the formal dining rooms and our table for 10 has an assortment of Americans: a retired couple, a mother/daughter pair, and a family of four. Given the predominance of Europeans, I wonder if we are the only such table. Our companions are very amiable and well traveled. The family and the mother/daughter are military and stationed in Germany and the retired couple is retired from the military and they spend half the year in Germany and the other half in Florida. So we are the only ones at the table who did not get the military discount that the cruise line apparently offers.
I am also the only one at the table with food issues so that makes things more entertaining. The reason we chose this cruise line (MSC) is because they advertise that the work with the Celiac Society of Italy to accommodate folks like me. And they have done a great job so far. I have my own waiter at every meal. At dinner its’ Lieuv from Romania who reminds me of a less flamboyant Romanian Harvey Fierstien. He brings me my special menu, my gluten free roll, and surprises me with desert each night. (Saturday night was an excellent pistachio cake, last night was a somewhat heavy chocolate and marzipan baked thing that I don’t know that I would call a cake, tonight lemon cake with Nutella ice cream!) I can have multiple courses like everyone else but they aren’t always the same courses. It is by far more food than I need. There is a catch though: they only offer gluten free options in the restaurants and NOT in the cafeteria. So if I’m desperately hungry at 3pm, I have to choose from whatever they are offering to everyone else. Generally this is fine. We made up an antipasti plate yesterday from the buffet (cheese, olives and salami) and purchased some gluten free snacks from the “gluten free bar” – I don’t mind paying $3 for a bag of GF pretzels under the circumstances – and took those to the room with our wine to sit and watch the ship sail out of Copenhagen harbor.
So far we have been quite pleased and spent the day relaxing – even taking a nap after lunch! The step count reflects that too: just 10,600 today and that’s because we have taken the stairs every time we go anywhere just to get some exercise in. I did manage to get in some yoga today; there’s exactly enough floor space for my travel mat! I haven’t managed to drag myself to the gym yet. The treadmills are strategically placed at the front of the ship so that you have a great view of the open ocean but it will be hard to escape the fact that you are still on a treadmill. And it seems that every time I venture into the gym, there is actually a queue for the equipment.
Maybe there isn’t enough (quality?) entertainment on board so people feel the need to go to the gym. While I had no delusions about what the ship board shows would (or would not) be, tonight’s entertainment was nearly indescribable. Billed as “The Catwoman”, it tried to something of a Cirque de Soliel show: part acrobats, part dancing, part singing, part I-don’t-know-what. All done by “entertainers” in ripoff Batman, Catwoman, Penguin, and Joker costumes. I honestly can’t believe there wasn’t multiple violations of intellectual property laws – including music from the Batman TV show as well as the Pirates of the Caribbean (WTF?) Maybe I’m not European enough for such things because I couldn’t stop laughing. With the exception of a handful of people who walked out midway through, the rest of the audience seemed to really like the show. I can’t possibly explain it – maybe I’m just tired and it will make sense in the morning…. but don’t hold your breath.
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