Today
is a second sea day in a row. We’re in the South China Sea on our way to Hanoi, docking at Ha Long Bay tomorrow morning around 8:30 a.m. Looking off the veranda today, the sea is amazingly smooth. I feel
no movement of the ship at all.
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smooth sailing, not another ship in sight
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Most
all of my blogs are for sharing what we’re seeing/doing when away from the ship.
But I think most cruisers love sea days (I know we do) because they give us a chance to
rest up and do whatever we want. For some on the ship, that means whatever activities are happening onboard, and they do try to offer a little
something for everyone. For us, it’s a chance to take naps,
read, work on a project, listen to an onboard lecture or whatever.
All of these time changes keep our bodies
guessing at what time to go to bed or what time to get up. I was up really late
last night but for some reason I woke super early this morning. After breakfast,
we returned to our cabin and Ronnie was using the internet so I decided to read
for a while until it was my turn to get online. We tell each other “I’m about to
knock you off” which is lingo for “it’s my turn to get online.” HA! Having
only one internet connection per cabin is our chief (and really only) complaint
about Oceania. Anyway, while reading and waiting my turn, I started to get really sleepy.
You guessed it – I went back to sleep and slept for 2 hours! While I was asleep
Ronnie went to exercise, came back to the room, showered, dressed and left me a
note saying he was going to lunch. I must have been out!
Later
as I was eating lunch I was thinking to myself that I had absolutely nothing to
blog about today. Then it occurred to me that maybe I could blog on days like
today – sea days when folks kick back and do whatever they please. So I got up
and walked around the ship snapping pictures for today’s post. I apologize in
advance because the public areas of the ship are generally light and bright, so
shooting into windows doesn’t result in the best photos. But hopefully you'll still
get the idea.
These were taken shortly after lunch so the ship looks almost empty! I think many if not most folks were probably still in the café or
dining rooms. Because of the time of day these were taken, it looks as if there are no passengers on board! A few hours from now they would look quite different. But I’ll share what I took from my walk around.
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our cabin door - Deck 8
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just above us - smoothies, malts, ice cream - Deck 9
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quick bites on deck
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table with a view - Terrace cafe
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"aft dining" - outside on Deck 9 (back of ship)
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pizza window
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pool deck
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ping pong
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bars on either end of pool
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for the dedicated ones
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mahjong?
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ship has dedicated areas for cards, bridge & mahjong
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entrance to Horizons lounge
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Artist Loft on right - Horizons
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working on hummingbird in watercolor
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a resident artist for each segment (art supplies furnished)
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about to set up for afternoon tea (real clotted cream!)
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doing needlework in lounge
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lady who lives in Japan giving tips on things to do in each port
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pool deck view from above
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casino opens at night (thankfully not noisy or smokey)
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quite a few smaller seating areas around ship
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onboard shopping
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a quiet spot to work?
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lobby looks like a ghost ship!
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library is a nice quiet place to read (but it's often too cold)
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snacks and coffee drinks available all day long
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slow on the grill deck
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That's it for today! Perhaps you can see now why I call it a lazy day at sea!
PS Periodically we have a get-together just for "us Texans" in the Horizons lounge. Ronnie just left but I decided to stay behind and finish this post. We have dinner in a specialty restaurant an hour from now and that's enough socialization for me tonight.
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Bharberts: I never thought that you could have "Cruise Lag". I actually do better with big time changes than small ones. On our small Grecian tour, I really disliked the landings, rushing around to see things with the passengers from 4-5 cruise ships and then coming back to barely make dinner. I like to linger in museums, or on beaches. Cruising and tours are about others' itineraries. However, as we age, it seems more difficult to travel as we did when younger, and having all the arrangements are a nice to have.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised that your public spaces looked so empty! Are there comfortable places to sit and work in most rooms? Does your balcony let you drag a chair out there? I guess the noon sun was too hot for the pool. It does look like a luxury hotel. Do you miss being able to be out in your yard?
I am amazed by your resourcefulness. It seems (other than the S Pole) your weather at ports has been amazingly hood most of the time--just unbearably hot the last month or so. By the time you get home, you will feel like Texas summers are not too bad!
Would you do this again, or would you only take shorter cruises?
Have you gone out to see the Southern Cross and the difference in the night sky while out at sea? The nice thing about a cruise is NO BUGS out in the middle of the sea while you gaze upwards. Henry would probably enjoy that info too.
Rest up...you've got miles to go !
>>Cruises and tours are about others’ itineraries<< Yes, and no. We picked this particular cruise for its itinerary, although there have been some necessary changes due to world events (we missed Peru and Myanmar but we picked up some countries we hadn’t planned on). But we’ve met many on the ship who have done multiple world cruises and the more experienced ones feel comfortable planning all of their own excursions (there’s an option to buy - or not) excursion packages). Planning your own saves a lot of $$, plus they are obviously more personalized. We've done a few of those. There are a number of websites they use to find these companies or individuals to coordinate private tours. However, there’s always the risk of not making it back to the ship in time and having to figure out your own way to the next stop on the itinerary which could be a huge headache, depending on where one gets left behind. If on a ship excursion, you can be certain the ship will wait on you and not leave you behind.
ReplyDeleteAs far as places to sit and work, it depends on which room you choose. We sprung for a larger room because of the length of time we’d be on the ship (I think there is a picture of it on my first post.) Our room has 4 chairs, a coffee table, love seat, king bed, 2 nightstands, table and desk. The balcony has 2 lounge chairs but it’s been too hot to use them in recent weeks. I personally don’t miss not being able to get out in the yard, as I don’t spend much time in the yard anyway.
The verdict is still out as to whether we’d do it again. We’re both enjoying it but we’d have to think about another one. However, there are folks on this ship who have taken multiple world cruises (it’s the 6th for one guy we know). One thing I do know – it’s by far the least stressful way to travel! We sent our large luggage ahead (included in price) so only had to deal with carry on or checked bag flying out. We’ll do the same going back. And how else can you travel while you sleep, have all your meals prepared, laundry washed, dried and pressed and your room serviced twice a day?? The ship staff spoils us rotten! Another plus of a long trip - you have time to get to know other passengers and develop friendships along the way.
Our one complaint: on Viking, we had good internet on all 4 devices (2 phones, 2 laptops) at the same time. On Oceania, we have to share one connection! ☹ Some may not find that annoying, but we do. Oceania is working to bring StarLink to all its ships. But it’s obviously too late for this one!
PS We’ve rarely had to contend with other cruise ships in port at the same time. In some ports, they haven’t seen a cruise ship in a year!
Bharberts: thanks for being so thorough in answers. We have thought of long cruises, but Greg and I are so different that I am not sure we'd enjoy so much closeness. I am a reader, sewer, piano player, he is a very outdoor person who likes group games and lots of activity.
ReplyDeleteA question on internet. Could you have taken a wifi router that would give you a network capability for multiple devices? It seems so strange that Oceana has not upgraded this ship and there is no alternative.
Shipping luggage ahead is a great idea. The "being taken care of" is a very nice advantage, as well as not having to worry with hotels and unpacking.
Maybe in a couple of years we will want a long cruise. I have heard that the Vancouver, Alaska, Korea, Japan cruises are nice. I will definitely think about room upgrades and connectivity!
Thank you for your insight ad educating us on these places we had not been.
Wifi router – Ronnie said no because they cookie each device separately.
DeleteFor a long cruise, I DO recommend the larger room (it doubles the price but is totally worth it for being on a ship for this many days)
The beauty is that you don’t always have to be doing the same thing. One can be as active (or inactive) as one wishes to be. Of course one can only be so “outdoorsy” on a ship. And on a smaller ship, it takes a lot more laps around the deck to get your walk/run in than on a larger one. And there's the gym, and that’s the extent of it, at least at sea. One can be more active while docked, if one feels safe to do so.
I will say that the clientele can be very different, based on the country you sail from. When we cruised Japan, we embarked from Tokyo it seemed like there were a lot more Asians than English speaking folks. Same as cruising from Barcelona, lots more Europeans on the ship. The food and entertainment is more geared to the majority of guests.