Shipboard Romance

As the holiday of hearts continues its annual onslaught, I’m reminded how cruising and love were meant for each other. And we’re reminded of this at every turn—from Royal Princess’ newsletter recruiting vow renewals to celebration packages for toasting your twosome.

And so, in the spirit of the holiday, I offer a few ways you can foster your shipboard romance:

Find a suite deal. Usually do an inside room or balcony? Make it a suite to make it special. 

Pronounce it to the crowd. At the Captain’s Welcome on a recent Princess trip, a fellow cruiser stole the show when he proposed to his girl in front of a few thousand guests and a round of applause.

Capture the mood. Ship photographers are eager to please, and will capture you and your lover at your best.

Stroll the deck in the dark. Everyone's inside at night, which leaves the outside decks just for you. It’s quiet, colorful and romantic. And no wonder so much of the "Love Boat" took place under the moonlight.

Consider an in-the-dark dip in the hot tub on Allure of the Seas

Make it sparkle. Buy a bauble to express your love—it doubles as a souvenir. Just a few of your choices: Bvlgari and Cartier on Harmony of the Seas; Tiffany's on Oasis of the Seas; and Effy on Royal Princess.

Wed or re-wed. Royal Caribbean, Princess and Carnival all have packages for doing weddings onboard. Princess also has some for engagements, honeymoons, vow renewals and anniversaries. Carnival will even help you get married on the beach.

 

Tie the knot that binds in the chapel on Freedom of the Seas

Make dining special. Get a table for two in the plush specialty restaurant 150 Central Park on the Oasis class ships or the stately Crown Grill of the Royal or Regal Princess for leisurely dining and attentive service.

Tables for two that are meant for you in Allure of the Seas' 150 Central Park 

Side-by-side massage. Take out your tensions together with a couples massage in Royal Caribbean’s Vitality Spa or Princess’ Sanctuary.

Room for wine and roses. From Royal Caribbean’s room décor packages to Carnival’s goodie baskets to Princess’ Norman Love’s chocolate gifts to Norwegian’s flower deliveries, you’ve got a slew of selections for filling your stateroom with love.

Norman Love sweets for your sweetie on Regal Princess

The one time to say “no.” Getting prodded to be on the marriage game show? Just say "no." Better to laugh at other couples sweating under the spotlight and scrutiny, and still  be in love on the morning after.

Musing's Top Tip: Visit us on Facebook and Instagram for more tips and quips, and musings about cruising!

Photos by Roger James Photography

One Class, Two Ships. Are They the Same?

Say you’ve been on a cruise and liked it. Now you’re thinking about another one—on a different ship but the same class. You wonder, will the two ships be the same?

Sister ships, as they call them, are indeed, like siblings. They may look kind of like each other. But they can be very different. Or very similar.

Take the Caribbean Princess and Emerald Princess. Pretty similar ships. Then take Oasis of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas. Very different ships.

Here are some of the ways sea-going siblings can differ:

Spacing out. Ships can use their space differently. The first in class Royal Princess debuted without an aft pool and after a fair amount of cruiser griping, her younger sister, Regal Princess, was built with one.

Another example is Celebrity’s Solstice; where the ship had space devoted to glass-making demos, the later ones gave it up to cooking lessons. Harmony has its bionic bartenders where folks sip champagne on sister Allure of the Seas.

Adding activity. Sometimes, a later ship gets more fun stuff. The Harmony added the Ultimate Abyss, as well as two water slides. You won’t find these on its older sibs.

Taunts on Harmony for the Ultimate Abyss

How to chow. Specialty restaurants can vary from ship to ship, even within the same class. For example, Oasis and Allure have the terrific Giovanni’s, but the Harmony went for Jamie’s Italian and added a new one, Wonderland.

Types of chow. The main dining room lunch buffet with the Tutti salad bar is on all the Oasis ships. But the Harmony took the sweets up a notch, with a grand dessert buffet, complete with chocolate fountain.

 

Chocolate, cake and much more to sweeten your lunch in the Harmony's MDR

From one stage to another. Each ship has its own shows, featured artists and sidebar entertainers.

Room for change. Harmony’s room configuration is not the same as that on Oasis and Allure—the two closets are far away from each other (which, by the way, is a good thing).

Art work. What graces the walls, sits in public spaces and hangs from the ceilings are all unique and can give the ship a feel of its own. I’m thinking about the big head in the Harmony’s Promenade, which, well, hits you in the face.

Techie talk. The Harmony is much more plugged in and booted up than its sisters—from its free-standing tablets to its modernized elevator buttons.

We’ve talked about the differences, but what’s the same? Nearly everything else.

So, really, you get the best of both worlds when you jump ship within a class. The ship is familiar. You (more or less) know your way around. Yet, it’s different enough to make it feel like a new experience. How neat is that for your vacation?

Musing’s Top Tip: We’ve been building up our Facebook site. If you like what you read here, there’s more at www.facebook.com/musingcruising. Hope to see you there!

Cruising the Web, Part Two

This posting could also have been titled, “So Many Cruise Sites, So Little Time.” With 25 million cruisers today¹, so many cruise sites have sprung up, competing for your attention (including mine!). How do you know where to go to plan your trip?

I’m going to help by sharing some of the more useful ones so you don’t have to wade through them all:

Decking it out. Picking a stateroom can be torture, particularly if you’re trying to do it with those

A website is so much easier!

impossible-to-read deck plans in cruise line catalogs. Luckily, there are some good sites out there that make this much easier, such as:

• Cruisedeckplans.com not only has deck plans you can actually read, but when you hover over a stateroom, you get a generic description and layout. Click on camera icons for a snapshot of the area a cruiser submitted. Note that camera icons in orange are photos available only if you pay a site registration fee ($8.99 a year).

• Cruisemapper.com also has large deck plans and is particularly useful, say, if you’re interested in staying on the Central Park deck of a Royal Caribbean Oasis class ship and want to see where the room lines up in relation to the restaurants and elevators. There’s also an easy-to-read legend of which rooms connect, have sofa beds and other features.

Know where you’re going. Cruiseportadvisor.com is a good site for information about the ports and what to do there. Especially helpful are descriptions of where ships dock and how to get into town.

Another is www.tomsportguides.com, which has info and maps on the ports, and more. One neat feature is you can download and print PDF port guides.

 

Aruba is one of  the ports featured in tomsportguides.com

Almost like being there. Probably the best way to get a feel for a ship or port is to view videos on YouTube. Now mind you, some of them are not too useful—indeed, a few will make you downright dizzy. But if you have the patience to sift through them, you’ll be rewarded with some great information and what words or photos can’t do—evoke the ambience and sounds.

There’s also the webcams, which are real-time views of the ports. Alas, there’s generally just one camera focused on just one spot, but they’re fun just the same. One of the largest collections of port cams is at Larrysvacationwebcams.com.

Everything else you need to know. The granddaddy site of them all is cruisecritic.com, with regular news, and extensive cruise ship and port reviews. Another especially worthwhile site is cruiseradio.net, which features a wide range of informative podcasts.

Yet another is cruisefever.net, with news, ports, price drops, webcams and ship reviews. Where it really shines is on its articles, which tackle topics not often addressed in other places, such as “What Happens When You Get Sick or Hurt on a Cruise” and “Five Tips to Keep You Safe While in Port.”

Keep track your ship. Several sites have map trackers, so you can see where your ship is at any given time. Cruiseoutlook.com has a good one; you can search by your ship.

If the sun will shine. Cruiseoutlook.com also has weather forecasts by ship/itinerary, complete with sunrise and sunset (great for planning those sunset photos). You can even switch to metric. Note, however, as with forecasts at home, they can be accurate—or not.

 

Find out when the sun will set and you'll get memorable photos like this one of
Ft. Lauderdale at sail away

Scoping out the scoop. There’s nothing like the forums for the chance to ask any question and get an answer from someone who’s just been there. Or, check out the chats for answers to questions you didn’t think of asking yourself. Cruisecritic.com is the best, with entries every day, all day long, on a wide range of topics—from rooms to drink packages to port excursions to cruise memorabilia.

It’s also a great site for getting information on onboard Meet and Mingle gatherings or joining a roll call for your ship, which connects you with your upcoming cruise fellow travelers.

Then once you join a roll call, you get to see questions like this one recently posted: “Only six months to my cruise. I can’t stand the wait. What do I do?” People actually answer. Maybe you’ll want to too.

Musing's Top Tip: Want to know if your ship is on the refurbishment list? Check out www.cruisehive.com for upcoming dry docks and what you can expect.

¹Cruise Lines International Association, State of the Cruise Industry Outlook 2017

Menu Driven: Doing the Specialty Dining Package on Allure of the Seas

After 20 Caribbean cruises, including three on Oasis class, we felt we’d done it all—and eaten it all.

So on our recent Allure of the Seas trip, we set out to find something new to do, driven by our longing for appealing food. The answer came in a package—a specialty dining package.

Why go specialty? For desserts like this from 150 Central Park

You might ask:

Why go specialty at all? In short, the food’s better than the main dining room (MDR). Way better. So is the service. And the ambience.

Is it right for me? Specialty dining is especially great for:

•          Veteran cruisers hungry to spice up their next trip
•          Foodies in search of better quality
•          Romantics looking for more intimate dining
•          Celebrants who want to commemorate an event

Why package it up? If you dine out one time, you pay top dollar. Chops Grille is now $49 a person. A dining package brings the price per meal down a lot. On Oasis class, you can get a three-, four- or five-night package. We did the five night at $115 a person, which brought the per meal price to $23.

How the package works:

Signing up

You can do it with your travel agent, or with Royal Caribbean on the phone or online before you leave or once you’re on the ship. Note: You’ll set a time for each meal, but you’re not locked in to it.

Plan your shows first. The cruise line won’t let you select a dining time that’s within two hours of your show. (Fyi, several of our meals went a full two hours.)

Chops Grille for steak on the Allure's Central Park

Making your dining choices

Once onboard, it’s like on land. There's actually quite a lot of flexibility. You choose where you want to eat on what day, in any of the restaurants and as many times as you want. You can even change the time if they have openings. (We were able to get just about any time, any place on any day.)  

You can make reservations on the same day you’re dining or in advance. They can be made at any restaurant in person, by phone or your stateroom TV. Note: One of your meals must be on night 1 or 2 of the trip.

A little bit of Italy at Giovanni's Table

There's even some flexibility with the menu. At Chops, diners next to us loaded up on multiple appetizers. At 150 Central Park, though there was no ice cream on the menu, the waiter brought us some from Chops.

Few more tidbits

•          Tips – They’re included in your overall trip gratuities
•          Drinks – What cost extra in the MDR cost extra in the restaurant
•          Dress – “Smart casual” (although diners tend to get more dressed up)

What’s the food really like?

Note first that taste is a subjective thing, and that quality can vary by who’s doing the cooking and by what you choose. That being said, here was my experience:

Chops Grille – The onion soup was very good. The 9 oz. filet mignon was cooked just right, and we were offered a choice of three flavorful sauces, as well as a number of potato and veggie side dish options. The “liquid center chocolate cake” was a small satisfying delicate cake, sort of like a sponge cake, but with deep chocolate flavor, and a mellow chocolate sauce poured over it with a scoop of ice cream and caramelized bananas on the side.

 

The filet mignon was hearty and tasty at Chops Grille

Giovanni’s Table – The osso buco was wonderful with a great taste and fork-tender. The filet mignon rivaled the one at Chops, and the meaty lasagna was also quite good. Desserts are typical Italian restaurant fare—tiramisu, cannelloni—as well as a few others. (If you’re a chocoholic, you’ll need to get dessert somewhere else.)

 

150 Central Park: intimate, romantic with stellar service too

150 Central Park – The food is continental-meets-nouvelle cuisine, but more continental than nouvelle. The squash soup was so velvety and sweet that I wanted to lick the bowl. The lobster gnocchi and short rib were also great, but the pièce de résistance was the chocolate bourbon tart. The fudgy inside was topped with spiced pecans, cranberry chutney and whipped cream, creating a bittersweet/sweet/spicy explosion of flavors. The place was also library-quiet and uber romantic, with its plush high back chairs and couches.

 

Smooth as silk, sweet as squash at 150 Central Park

Other specialty restaurants on Allure: Samba Grill (Brazilian steak house) Izumi (hibachi and sushi) and Sabor (Mexican).

The bottom line

If you want an overall better dining experience at the cost of—say, one excursion—consider a specialty dining package. It “beefed” up our cruise and will most likely do the same for you. 

Musing’s Top Tips: If you're thinking about a specialty dining package on an Oasis class cruise, check out Musing About Cruising's YouTube video to help you decide if it's right for you. Just click below and play:

Here’s another: For more easy planning and keeping track of your busy schedule, before leaving home, make a chart with separate columns for the shows, and where you’re dining and when. Also factor in the days in port and the hours you'll be there.

Note: All restaurant menus and prices are subject to change.

Romance on the High Seas

Romance with chocolate: the Love Boat Dream
Dessert on the Regal Princess

It’s no wonder the infamous TV show was called The Love Boat. Cruising and romance go together like, well, love and marriage.

In fact, more than 85 percent of cruisers take along their significant other.*

There’s something about cruising that brings out the romantic in us. Maybe it’s the way the sea shimmers in the moonlight. Or the unbroken horizon suggests anything is possible. Or maybe it’s just that we’re on vacation.

Whatever the reason, the cruise lines want to help you along when you’re in the mood for love. Here’s just a sampling of what you can do with your one-and-only:

Tie the knot or announce you’re glad you did. Royal Caribbean, Princess and Carnival all have packages for doing weddings onboard. Princess also has some for engagements, honeymoons, vow renewals and anniversaries. Carnival will even help you get married on the beach.

 

Bliss and blue skies on the Regal Princess' SeaWalk

Two for dinner. When you sign up for your cruise, you can ask for a table for two in the main dining room and can usually get one. There’s a limited number of them, though, and while most are okay, you can get one in a weird spot. If this happens, you can always ask for a change.

Dine al fresco. Do a leisurely breakfast, pre-dinner cocktail or quiet dinner for two with room service and a view.

Or make it extra special. The specialty restaurants will cost you more, but you get better service and better food than the main dining room. Some of the settings are more fitting for flirting too. Like the plush high back chairs of Oasis of the Seas’ Central Park 150 or the dark moody lighting in the Regal Princess’ Crown Grill.

 

Making it special at Sabatini's on the Regal Princess

Be formal. Formal nights were made for romance—with both of you in your best digs, find your ship photographer of choice and pose for posterity.

Room for wine and roses. From Royal Caribbean’s room décor packages to Carnival’s goodie baskets to Princess’ Norman Love’s chocolate gifts to Norwegian’s flower deliveries, you’ve got a number of choices for building a stateroom love nest.

Massage à deux. For the ultimate in peer pampering, consider a couples massage in Royal Caribbean’s Vitality Spa. In Princess’ Sanctuary, you can be massaged side-by-side each other and the sea in your own onboard cabana.

Kiss on camera. On the Regal Princess’ disco night, you might get your romance up on the big screen. Cameras scan the crowd and if lands on you, your fellow cruisers will egg you on to indulge the Love Boat Kiss Cam and see your smooch on the more than 300-square-foot poolside screen.

Together, alone at the ports. Take a carriage ride in San Juan, a floating raft for two in Carnival’s Mahogany Bay or Amber Cove, or spring for seclusion in a cabana by the sea in Royal Caribbean’s Labadee.

Find some seclusion by the sea in a cabana for two at Amber Cove

A final thought (or warning). Whether you find yourself stoking the fires of your passion on a raft, at a table or in the spa, no matter how tempting, just say “no” to being on the marriage game show—if you still want to be in love on the morning after.

Note: Facilities and amenities vary by ship.

* Cruise Lines International Association website, www.cruising.org

Making the Next Time Feel Like the First Time

There’s just nothing like the first time. That thrill, that excitement, that joy at discovering something new.

You may have felt it during your first cruise; I know I did. But I also know there’s no reason why you can’t enjoy your second cruise as much as your first. Or your 5th as much as your 15th.

The secret? Doing something really different the next time around. Here are just a few ideas for rekindling that first-time feeling:

Try another line. While one line can feel much like another (after all, there’s a view of the sea and they feed you), there really are differences. You can ride a carousel on Royal Caribbean. Watch a movie under the stars and a blanket on Princess. Cook along with the chefs on Holland America.

Recapturing childhood joy on the Oasis

Jump ship. Going from small to big or the other way around can change things up if you’re married to one line. While Royal’s Navigator of the Seas at 139,500 tons is no row boat, Oasis of the Seas at 225,200 is a whole other class by itself.

Room for a change. Always get an inside room? Spring for a balcony. Pick off-season (e.g., not January-March) and a less popular itinerary (e.g., Western Caribbean), and you can get one at a great price. We’ve picked some trips on Princess just so we could afford a mini-suite.

Venture out. After many Caribbean cruises, we got out of our comfort zone (and our shorts) and took one to Alaska for an experience unlike any other. Or, look for Caribbean itineraries that go off the beaten path. We took one of Celebrity Constellation’s rare trips to St. Barts and got a sneak peek of the famous French chic, amazingly hilly, yacht-choked island. See the posting “Off Course and Worth It.”

 

Tough to find parking for your car--or your yacht--in St. Barts

Don’t or do an excursion. Always sign up for one? Wander around town next time. Always roam the port? Parasail, tour the island or cook up a Caribbean lunch for a change.

Dine differently. After years of set seating, we finally tried my-time style. And never turned back. On an upcoming cruise, we’re doing a five-night specialty package for the first time. Stay tuned for how that goes.

Drink it up. Whether you’re a big drinker or not, will get your money’s worth or not, you should try a drink package at least once. It was a throw-in on our recent Princess trip, and it was a blast trying some new drink each day, getting cappuccinos when we felt like it and ending the night with liqueur—and all without a thought about cost. Or who was going to get us home.

Experience this. You might try some shipboard activity you’ve never done—from climbing the walls on Royal, doing the pricey but unique Captain’s Dinner or grabbing the mike at karaoke. It will probably be the one thing you remember most about your cruise.

Take a camera. I don’t mean a smartphone; I mean a real camera. One that lets you get in close from really far away. Shoot the jugglers in low light. Take in the lights around the pool at night. With a camera, you can be creative. And there’s so much to capture inside and outside the ship. It’s particularly great for those lazy days at sea. See “Unleashing Your Inner Artsy-Fartsy” for ideas and photos.

 

We needed a Panasonic GX7 to get this shot on the Caribbean Princess

An excuse for a cruise. Whether it’s over a national holiday or your personal celebration, it’s a great excuse to splurge while onboard. Buy a box of divine chocolates. Make a reservation at a specialty restaurant. Do a couples massage. Throw a party. Don a tiara. Make it special and make it memorable.

 

Norman Love chocolates and more on the Regal Princess for your personal celebration

Bring along friends or family. Perhaps nothing changes the cruise experience more than changing who you’re with. Maybe you’ll finally get that “I’ll-never-be-caught-dead-on-a-ship” person you know to actually take the plunge. And here’s a new experience to look forward to: telling him (or her) “I told you so.”