Friday, November 7, 2008

Mediterranean Cruise - Part 2 (The Ship)

There is so much to tell about this cruise, I am going to have to break it into pieces. So, bare with me.

First of all, I will tell you about the ship. We sailed on the Splendour of the Seas by Royal Caribbean. It was an older ship and not too big, so not like to massive ships that I have heard about. I think this one held a maximum of 2000 people.
We splurged on the balcony room (seriously, when will we ever get to go on a Mediterranean cruise again?) and we are so happy we did! It was nice to be able to sit out there away from the crowds on the main deck and enjoy the view, read a book, or just sit! It was worth every penny!
I was expecting the room to be quite small, but there was actually a lot of space. We had plenty of storage to get unpacked and settled. Pam and I are both a little OCD when it comes to being neat and tidy! The best part about going on a cruise for me was that we unpacked 1 time and got all settled in! Then, we went to bed and woke up in fabulous new places every day!

The food was exactly like what you have always heard the food to be on a cruise...too much! It was a treat for us because it was American food! Boring to most, nice for me! They have food and ice sculptures which were very impressive!
Every evening you could have dinner in the main dining room. Pam and I sat at a table with 3 couples. It was nice getting to meet these people from around the US! People were wondering what the story was with 2 females going on a cruise together....needless to say, we talked about Pam's husband a lot during the cruise!!

To be honest, the food was not as good as I thought it was going to be. It was fine, but not as culinary or gourmet as I was expecting! I am just a little picky when it comes to my food, so it was perfect for me!

This is the main dining room where we had dinner most nights. Some nights we were not up for getting dressed up so we just did something casual at the buffet.There were 2 formal nights where we really had to get dressed up. Here is one of those nights...
This is a picture of our dinnermates. They were so much fun!
Of course, the ship had a great main deck with a couple of swimming pools, bars, miniature golf, rock wall, etc! This was the main hang out during the days at sea when we did not stop at a port!
They even had a evacuation drill. Pam was not pleased about having to leave the room (and balcony) to do this. She insisted that is this ship were to turn into the Titanic, it would not be this orderly!

This was on the deck as we were leaving Venice. I was really disappointed when the sail-away was not like the Love Boat. Remember that show? Where was the confetti and streamers being thrown from the top deck? There was no celebration! Jeez, am I asking for too much here? Anyway, Pam and I made our own sail-away party (minus the confetti!).
My favorite thing we did on the boat was go to a napkin folding seminar! I know, I am weird! But we had so much fun learning how to fold napkins into cute little shapes!
Everyone was getting into this folding thing....
This is the lily...
The candlestick...
The 5 second fold... The fan (you put it in a glass when you set your table)...
Oh, and the sunsets (I was rarely up for sunrises, but the sunsets were magical!).
Next up, our first stop, Dubrovnik, Croatia...

3 comments:

  1. Oh Tippa, this just looks fantastic! I can't believe how BIG your cabin was! I too would have been happy to not ever leave, except for food maybe!!! And I think you lucked out in the food department. I'll share a quick story if you'll indulge me... the cruise ship we stayed in as a hotel in Russia... served Russian delicacies... our first meal... was TONGUE... and it didn't get any better after that!!

    I can't wait to see more! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Anonymous8:29 PM

    That is the nicest cruise ship I've ever seen! The room looked wonderful! Your pictures of the water are just amazing with the lighting like it was...
    Hope the weekend is going good and you're getting some rest!

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  3. Ok, if you ever have a dinner party and show us pictures you can be sure I'll be looking at the table for fancy folded napkins!!! :)

    Looks like an amazing time...

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