Day 8 Baltic 2013 - At Sea and about the Ocean Princess
No idea when I will be able to post this as the Internet connection is dicey here. An excellent way to start a cruise is having a day at sea. It gives the new arrivals the opportunity to rest after their journey and it gives those of us who have already been here for a bit to get our sea legs beneath us.
This morning it was a 6:30 start with an overly-enthusiastic Big Guy bouncing all over the place. I slept sort of on and off while he’d had a deep restful sleep… sigh. He got dressed and got me coffee while I showered. Then he hustled me out the door and up to Sabatini’s for breakfast, except they weren’t open. I sat in the library and he explored.
This is the third time we’ve been on this particular ship and twice that we’ve stayed in the same cabin. The Owner Suite is broken into two rooms with a curtained opening between them. This way the Big Guy can watch TV at night or I can get up early and write. Neither has happened on this trip yet as he has been getting up with me (5:30 on vacation???) and going to bed with me at night. It’s pretty crazy to have our times synced up. Anyhow, the cabin has a balcony that stretches the span of the two rooms, making it one of the largest on the ship (only the OS on deck six has a larger one).
The Ocean, which used to be the Tahitian started out as a Renaissance ship. It’s very small by cruise standards, carrying a maximum of 670 passengers to the 2,000 0r 3,000 of many of the other ships. The nice part is that you sort of get to know everyone on the ship, at least by face. You tend to bump into people you know or see them on tours. It’s not a long walk to get anywhere and disembarking is a breeze. Because of its size, the Ocean can get into smaller ports and dock where the big ships have to tender (use a life boat) people in.
The bad part is that there are limited amenities. There is only one dining room, a single buffet and the specialty restaurants (Sabatini’s - Italian and Sterling - a steak house) alternate being open. There is no movie theatre, no huge pool with a water slide, no rock walls, skating rinks, amusement parks or fifty different shops. This ship is not for the type of person who must be entertained 24 hours a day. It’s not a party ship, although there are plenty of bars and lounges. This is more of a ship for people who enjoy the cruising experience as opposed to many which seem more designed to feed the inner party animal of some people.
On this cruise, I’ve seen one child and about four teens. The average age is about 60 and the music tends to reflect that. There are different bands you can dance to from country western to ball room to just about anything in between. We so need to book Waterloo on one of these ships.
Back to the cruise itself. Because it was the first day and a sea day to boot, things were pretty low key. We went up and had breakfast in the suite lounge, then came back to the cabin and piddled with things. Chris went off to talk to the IT tech in the Internet Café about the problems he was having with his connection and I went to read. The stewards will not come into your room to clean while you are in the cabin. There was some trouble in which a passenger and the steward had ‘an incident’ and this is the new rule.
We came back to a clean cabin and Chris worked on the computer while I decided to take a nap. An hour and a half later I woke up, just in time for lunch - will this killing pace ever end?? This time we headed up to Sterling’s where they were having a pub lunch. I had a lovely steak and kidney pie followed by bread and butter pudding while Chris had bangers and mash, also followed by the same dessert.
So sustained, it was time to move on to the Meet and Greet that Mary and I had set up for the members of our roll call. We had 35 people RSVP and about 33 of them showed up. The only two missing were our table mates. Not sure what happened and I didn’t press at dinner. It was nice to meet folks and put faces to names. I brought a couple back to see the suite and we sat and talked for another hour or so.
As it was a day at sea, that means it was a formal night and Chris’s white linen jacket was in need of a press, as did his pants, so we trolleyed down to the Laundromat. Thankfully it wasn’t too crazy and we were able to get his stuff ironed quickly and get out of there (it’s very hot inside).
We lounged around the room and read until it was time to dress. It used to be fashion that we were given corsages and buttoners to wear, but no longer.
We dressed and made it down to the dining room. There we met up with Ken and Cathy and went in. It used to be there every night was a theme, but that has sort of gone by the wayside.
So, dinner -
I had a lovely chilled corn and potato chowder followed by Shrimp Danniel (shrimp in a spicy white sauce). I was too full to have dessert.
Chris had shrimp cocktail, corn and potato chowder, Caesar salad, beef fillet, and Bananas Foster.
Then he went to the show and I came back to the cabin and read some more. I love the freedom to read as much as I want. It’s one of my few pleasures on vacation. I don’t get much chance to read as much as I’d like usually. This is a real pleasure and I shall dream of it tonight
This morning it was a 6:30 start with an overly-enthusiastic Big Guy bouncing all over the place. I slept sort of on and off while he’d had a deep restful sleep… sigh. He got dressed and got me coffee while I showered. Then he hustled me out the door and up to Sabatini’s for breakfast, except they weren’t open. I sat in the library and he explored.
This is the third time we’ve been on this particular ship and twice that we’ve stayed in the same cabin. The Owner Suite is broken into two rooms with a curtained opening between them. This way the Big Guy can watch TV at night or I can get up early and write. Neither has happened on this trip yet as he has been getting up with me (5:30 on vacation???) and going to bed with me at night. It’s pretty crazy to have our times synced up. Anyhow, the cabin has a balcony that stretches the span of the two rooms, making it one of the largest on the ship (only the OS on deck six has a larger one).
The Ocean, which used to be the Tahitian started out as a Renaissance ship. It’s very small by cruise standards, carrying a maximum of 670 passengers to the 2,000 0r 3,000 of many of the other ships. The nice part is that you sort of get to know everyone on the ship, at least by face. You tend to bump into people you know or see them on tours. It’s not a long walk to get anywhere and disembarking is a breeze. Because of its size, the Ocean can get into smaller ports and dock where the big ships have to tender (use a life boat) people in.
The bad part is that there are limited amenities. There is only one dining room, a single buffet and the specialty restaurants (Sabatini’s - Italian and Sterling - a steak house) alternate being open. There is no movie theatre, no huge pool with a water slide, no rock walls, skating rinks, amusement parks or fifty different shops. This ship is not for the type of person who must be entertained 24 hours a day. It’s not a party ship, although there are plenty of bars and lounges. This is more of a ship for people who enjoy the cruising experience as opposed to many which seem more designed to feed the inner party animal of some people.
On this cruise, I’ve seen one child and about four teens. The average age is about 60 and the music tends to reflect that. There are different bands you can dance to from country western to ball room to just about anything in between. We so need to book Waterloo on one of these ships.
Back to the cruise itself. Because it was the first day and a sea day to boot, things were pretty low key. We went up and had breakfast in the suite lounge, then came back to the cabin and piddled with things. Chris went off to talk to the IT tech in the Internet Café about the problems he was having with his connection and I went to read. The stewards will not come into your room to clean while you are in the cabin. There was some trouble in which a passenger and the steward had ‘an incident’ and this is the new rule.
We came back to a clean cabin and Chris worked on the computer while I decided to take a nap. An hour and a half later I woke up, just in time for lunch - will this killing pace ever end?? This time we headed up to Sterling’s where they were having a pub lunch. I had a lovely steak and kidney pie followed by bread and butter pudding while Chris had bangers and mash, also followed by the same dessert.
So sustained, it was time to move on to the Meet and Greet that Mary and I had set up for the members of our roll call. We had 35 people RSVP and about 33 of them showed up. The only two missing were our table mates. Not sure what happened and I didn’t press at dinner. It was nice to meet folks and put faces to names. I brought a couple back to see the suite and we sat and talked for another hour or so.
As it was a day at sea, that means it was a formal night and Chris’s white linen jacket was in need of a press, as did his pants, so we trolleyed down to the Laundromat. Thankfully it wasn’t too crazy and we were able to get his stuff ironed quickly and get out of there (it’s very hot inside).
We lounged around the room and read until it was time to dress. It used to be fashion that we were given corsages and buttoners to wear, but no longer.
We dressed and made it down to the dining room. There we met up with Ken and Cathy and went in. It used to be there every night was a theme, but that has sort of gone by the wayside.
So, dinner -
I had a lovely chilled corn and potato chowder followed by Shrimp Danniel (shrimp in a spicy white sauce). I was too full to have dessert.
Chris had shrimp cocktail, corn and potato chowder, Caesar salad, beef fillet, and Bananas Foster.
Then he went to the show and I came back to the cabin and read some more. I love the freedom to read as much as I want. It’s one of my few pleasures on vacation. I don’t get much chance to read as much as I’d like usually. This is a real pleasure and I shall dream of it tonight