The Cruise Lifestyle

We sailed last night from Copenhagen, traveling about 128 nautical miles, to the port of Warnemunde, Germany.  Berlin lies 149 miles to the South and many of our fellow passengers decided to visit the city.  Because we had visited Berlin just a few years ago we chose to remain onboard and explore our surroundings.

Our explorations began by checking out the three dining rooms and the Garden Cafe Buffet on Deck 15.  We chose the Savor dining room for breakfast.  Oh, what a breakfast!  I ordered a seasonal fruit plate and Eggs Benedict with grilled tomato. What a leisurely way to begin our second day—no hurry or bustle—no plane to catch, no lines to stand in, and no obligations.  The waiters and waitresses went out of their way to make us comfortable, keeping our coffee cups filled, and providing excellent service.  

After this extravagant breakfast we wandered about, trying to get our bearings—locating shops, theaters, restaurants, the casino, the art gallery, and all the other venues onboard (the hot tubs, the pools, the water slides, the gym, the basketball court—and on, and on, and on).  This ship has more amenities and more  people than my town!

Where does time go when you are having fun?  Before we knew it, it was lunch time.  We discovered that the three dining rooms are closed when the ship is in port.  The reason for this is that most of the passengers disembark and spend their time on shore.  But there are many other places to eat on the ship, some open 24/7.  Lunch, like the earlier breakfast, was exceptional.  

The afternoon went by in a flash.  We sat in the Atrium (Deck 6) people-watching and adjusting to this new “cruise lifestyle.”  In a blink of an eye, it was dinner time!  It became clear that we were highly susceptible to pampering. It also became evident that we were going to be heavier leaving the ship than we were when we came aboard.  Every time we left our stateroom, Mark,  our house keeper, would enter and straighten things up.  At every meal we were treated, fed, and addressed like royalty.  I could get use to this!