On a beautiful day at sea, there’s lots to do. Today, I marveled at the huge blueness of the Mediterranean, and then took a unique tour that gave me a rare look at the inner workings of the day-to-day management of a cruise ship.
I was continuously inspired by the simple vastness of the Mediterranean, and how we could spend an entire day at sea and see no land and almost no boats. There’s a clean, dramatic, relaxing, screen-saver beauty to a two-tone-blue world of sea and sky.
A highlight for me on this cruise was the “all access” tour. Out of 3,700 passengers, a dozen of us opted to pay $150 for a three-hour tour that took us behind the scenes. We got to visit each department and talk to the officer in charge, gaining an appreciation for the complexity of running such a huge ship. This man managed the ship's food inventory, and was responsible for keeping the pantry and fridge stocked for 5,000 hungry passengers and crew for a week at a stretch. Each vast refrigerated warehouse had a particular temperature designed to keep a particular kind of fruit or vegetable fresh and crunchy for the longest period of time. The officer admitted that if bananas are on the "push list," you’ll see more banana smoothies at the poolside bar. How smartly he manages the produce inventory on the ship has a big impact on its bottom line. While they ship lots of items from their company depot in Florida (because things are much less expensive in the US), he made a point to say that since fruits and vegetables in Europe are simply tastier than ours in America, they purchased most of them here.
The bridge (the huge command center from where the captain and his crew run the ship) comes with a wing that juts out on the port and starboard sides and gives a great view back towards the stern. As part of our “all access” tour, we got a chance to see the ship’s state-of-the-art navigational tools in action.
Comments
4 Replies to “Day at Sea: When a Very Big Ship Seems Very Small”
I’m happy you are relaxing with a cruise. Mike and I have done the Alaska cruise and it was wonderful. Perhaps a little harder to travel like a temporary local…but maybe still possible. Wow, Sunday is only 5 days away when we leave for our wonderful Hungary and Austria trip – combining my husband’s business trip in Tatabanya with a vacation for us. We’ll be settled in Tata, see Budapest, then after the business, spend three nights with Helga Bankhammer in Salzburg and three nights in Vienna, and home 10/13. I cannot even express how very helpful your guidebooks are for this! Thank-you so very much! I will definately email a “how was your trip” when we get back. I’m sure I’ll have lots of adventures and seeing beauty to share.
Bellissimo, Rick! I had my own contemplative “Mediterranean moment” on Dec. 31st, 2006. I rang in the New Year on a hotel rooftop (already perched on a hill) with staff and guests in Acireale, Sicily. At midnight, we looked behind us up the hill to the town center, where bonfires illuminated the cool (but not cold) winter sky. As we gazed out ahead over the water, the hotel staff pointed out that the fireworks in the far distance across the water was Abruzzo province (mainland Italy). There were also boats anchored out in the water near our harbor with tiki-lighting and we could hear people shouting: “Buon Anno!”. The Mediterranean never looked so lively, and it was all late at night!
Birds of a feather_ _ _ _ _ _
I hope Rick’s post encourages people to take the “behind the scenes tour” on ships. I took a similar tour, albeit it 100% focused on the ship’s kitchens, and it was really interesting. It gave me a new appreciation of how such wonderful meals could come from such tight working areas.
I’m happy you are relaxing with a cruise. Mike and I have done the Alaska cruise and it was wonderful. Perhaps a little harder to travel like a temporary local…but maybe still possible. Wow, Sunday is only 5 days away when we leave for our wonderful Hungary and Austria trip – combining my husband’s business trip in Tatabanya with a vacation for us. We’ll be settled in Tata, see Budapest, then after the business, spend three nights with Helga Bankhammer in Salzburg and three nights in Vienna, and home 10/13. I cannot even express how very helpful your guidebooks are for this! Thank-you so very much! I will definately email a “how was your trip” when we get back. I’m sure I’ll have lots of adventures and seeing beauty to share.
Bellissimo, Rick! I had my own contemplative “Mediterranean moment” on Dec. 31st, 2006. I rang in the New Year on a hotel rooftop (already perched on a hill) with staff and guests in Acireale, Sicily. At midnight, we looked behind us up the hill to the town center, where bonfires illuminated the cool (but not cold) winter sky. As we gazed out ahead over the water, the hotel staff pointed out that the fireworks in the far distance across the water was Abruzzo province (mainland Italy). There were also boats anchored out in the water near our harbor with tiki-lighting and we could hear people shouting: “Buon Anno!”. The Mediterranean never looked so lively, and it was all late at night!
Birds of a feather_ _ _ _ _ _
I hope Rick’s post encourages people to take the “behind the scenes tour” on ships. I took a similar tour, albeit it 100% focused on the ship’s kitchens, and it was really interesting. It gave me a new appreciation of how such wonderful meals could come from such tight working areas.