Our ship is big: 200 feet tall and over a thousand feet long…longer than the Eiffel Tower is tall. It's basically a floating city — with a population of 5,000 made up of about 1,500 crew serving 3,500 passengers staying in 1,800 staterooms.
A great thing about cruising is that you really notice the sunset (and — if you happen to be up that early — the sunrise). Our ship has a Jacuzzi (shown above in the photo), built both dramatically and romantically out over the top deck, which seems to be a popular hangout. For the first time in my life, I spied the elusive “green flash” at sunset. This tiny green flare can only be seen on a clear evening at the moment the sun disappears into the sea.
The ship (Royal Caribbean’s Liberty of the Seas) was a floating cross between Disneyland and Las Vegas with a flair for splashy design. I couldn’t stop marveling at the wild, womb-like lines of the staircases in the huge “main street” core of the ship.
We produced a new thousand-page guidebook to the top Mediterranean cruise ports, and I’m pleased at how quickly it’s been embraced by cruise travelers. It’s selling well, and I meet lots of people using it on our ship. Cruise travel is booming and this book fills a great little niche. Ninety percent of Mediterranean cruisers visit the same predictable ports, and since we already had solid chapters for nearly all of these in our various country guidebooks, making this book was a natural. Of course, cruising is — in many ways — anathema to the “back door travel” philosophy that I’ve been preaching for 30 years. But my goal with this new book is to enable (or even empower) people who want the ease, economy, and fun of a cruise — if that’s their style — to travel efficiently and independently in the ports. And as always, I encourage my traveling readers to be destructive — rip up the book and go ashore only with the chapter you need tucked in your pocket. On this trip, I have a pile of the ripped-out cruise-port chapters and am passing them out to travelers who need information, in the hopes of getting their feedback at the end of each day.
Comments
9 Replies to “Getting to Know the Ship (It’s a Ship…Not a Boat)”
Like Vegas, Miami, Disney World, Dubai, cruises fill a need for some who want them. Just as RS tours fill a need for those who need them.
I saw the “green flash” on an Alaska cruise while watching the sunset over the Pacific. It is an amazing experience, and the most perfect color green one can ever see.
I think if I were trying to relax on a vacation on this cruise and had somebody trying to sell me on their business I would not like it one bit. I wonder if cruise ships even allow it.
My husband and I will be boarding her in 3 weeks!! Can’t wait! I look forward to your review.
Rick Steves extolling the virtues of cruising?! Is somebody closing in on sixty? ;)
After a very long week of work, school, and about 7 hours total of sleep, the wife and I were lying in bed watching the travel channel. They were showing a segment on Rhine river cruises. With all due respect to my elders, but this boat just happened to be populated by mostly 70-80 year olds. I wasn’t paying attention to that, it just seemed like a very serene and slow paced way to travel up the Rhine. I turned to the wife and said, “that looks great we should take one.” Which she responded, “Yes it does………in 40 years.” So maybe it’s not necessarily your age as it is the age your body feels.
Dont knock it until you try it. The sunsets are absolutely beautiful. There are good and bad things about everything. And there were plenty of young kids and middle age people on our ship. Also depends on the time of year. If you go in late fall you will have a lot more older people.
Thank you, Rick!
On our three European cruises over the past 3 years, we’ve made great use of your guides, but found them missing the extra info so necessary to cruisers, such as detailed info on transport from the various ports (many cities have multiple piers which can be used) to the city center. This book looks like just the ticket!
An amusing story that a friend used to tell about Civitavecchia (bear in mind that he IS a comedian). On a recent cruise, when they docked in Civiavecchia, he decided that rather follow the rush of passengers to Rome, this time he’d just stay in port and explore the city. He asked someone what there was to see in Civiavecchia, and was told “there’s nothing to see in Civiavecchia, go to Rome.” He stopped by the tourist office and was told the same thing. He finally found a local museum. He paid admittance to find a lot of photos ….of sights in Rome.
I’ve also heard disappointing things about food there as well. I look forward to reading your suggestions on that – and more.
ann-
Please try reading a little more carefully. Rick has been passing out FREE portions of the new book, IF people wish to ‘field test’ it and give him feed back. I imagine most are interested in connecting with him, and I’m sure he is not forcing himself or his material on anyone. We met him at the NYT Travel Show, poor man could not escape people wanting to speak with him.
You are right, the average passenger is not allowed to solicit on board a cruise ship. The ships want to retain that right for themselves!
Earlier this year when we stepped on a large cruise ship for the first time, we had barely gotten inside the door, when we were accosted 3 different times about buying extra fee dining packages. Spas, art auctions, booze, the casino, classes, land trips………. By just getting on many of the mega ships today, you are opening yourself up to being constantly encouraged to spend more.
We were stopped even before we boarded to get our pictures taken – we thought for some sort of security pass. WRONG!
I bet Rick would be the first to say you have the right to relax; chill out on a lounge with a towel over your head, and ignore the rest of the world. You’ll be more likely to be able to do that on a smaller ship (200 – 800 passengers), thou, than Liberty of the Seas. I give Rick credit for having an open mind (as usual) and trying to help those of us who love being on the water. As many also do, we combine land touring with sea voyages. YMMV
Like Vegas, Miami, Disney World, Dubai, cruises fill a need for some who want them. Just as RS tours fill a need for those who need them.
I saw the “green flash” on an Alaska cruise while watching the sunset over the Pacific. It is an amazing experience, and the most perfect color green one can ever see.
I think if I were trying to relax on a vacation on this cruise and had somebody trying to sell me on their business I would not like it one bit. I wonder if cruise ships even allow it.
My husband and I will be boarding her in 3 weeks!! Can’t wait! I look forward to your review.
Rick Steves extolling the virtues of cruising?! Is somebody closing in on sixty? ;)
After a very long week of work, school, and about 7 hours total of sleep, the wife and I were lying in bed watching the travel channel. They were showing a segment on Rhine river cruises. With all due respect to my elders, but this boat just happened to be populated by mostly 70-80 year olds. I wasn’t paying attention to that, it just seemed like a very serene and slow paced way to travel up the Rhine. I turned to the wife and said, “that looks great we should take one.” Which she responded, “Yes it does………in 40 years.” So maybe it’s not necessarily your age as it is the age your body feels.
Dont knock it until you try it. The sunsets are absolutely beautiful. There are good and bad things about everything. And there were plenty of young kids and middle age people on our ship. Also depends on the time of year. If you go in late fall you will have a lot more older people.
Thank you, Rick!
On our three European cruises over the past 3 years, we’ve made great use of your guides, but found them missing the extra info so necessary to cruisers, such as detailed info on transport from the various ports (many cities have multiple piers which can be used) to the city center. This book looks like just the ticket!
An amusing story that a friend used to tell about Civitavecchia (bear in mind that he IS a comedian). On a recent cruise, when they docked in Civiavecchia, he decided that rather follow the rush of passengers to Rome, this time he’d just stay in port and explore the city. He asked someone what there was to see in Civiavecchia, and was told “there’s nothing to see in Civiavecchia, go to Rome.” He stopped by the tourist office and was told the same thing. He finally found a local museum. He paid admittance to find a lot of photos ….of sights in Rome.
I’ve also heard disappointing things about food there as well. I look forward to reading your suggestions on that – and more.
ann-
Please try reading a little more carefully. Rick has been passing out FREE portions of the new book, IF people wish to ‘field test’ it and give him feed back. I imagine most are interested in connecting with him, and I’m sure he is not forcing himself or his material on anyone. We met him at the NYT Travel Show, poor man could not escape people wanting to speak with him.
You are right, the average passenger is not allowed to solicit on board a cruise ship. The ships want to retain that right for themselves!
Earlier this year when we stepped on a large cruise ship for the first time, we had barely gotten inside the door, when we were accosted 3 different times about buying extra fee dining packages. Spas, art auctions, booze, the casino, classes, land trips………. By just getting on many of the mega ships today, you are opening yourself up to being constantly encouraged to spend more.
We were stopped even before we boarded to get our pictures taken – we thought for some sort of security pass. WRONG!
I bet Rick would be the first to say you have the right to relax; chill out on a lounge with a towel over your head, and ignore the rest of the world. You’ll be more likely to be able to do that on a smaller ship (200 – 800 passengers), thou, than Liberty of the Seas. I give Rick credit for having an open mind (as usual) and trying to help those of us who love being on the water. As many also do, we combine land touring with sea voyages. YMMV