CyberCabin!
To clarify and extend my preceding remarks, this was our third Royal Caribbean cruise, but fifth overall including the private shindig we attended in Alaska on the Crystal Harmony. I thank the Hunnybear from California for her kind assistance in refreshing my recollection.
It was a perfect day in Miami, sunny and 78. Looking out the window of our suite we could see the cruise-ship terminal and there she was, having drifted in during the early-morning hours—the Explorer of the Seas, docked in all her majesty and grandeur. We all went down by the pool to do some basking and then went in for breakfast. Hunnybear and I each ordered the smoked salmon plate which came with a toasted bagel but not the wine-poached egg advertised. It was one enormous slice of lox, quite good, smothered in capers. Jonathan had the breakfast buffet including a made-to-order omelet. We saw Jonathan off to catch his flight and then packed up ourselves.
Just before one we checked out. The video checkout wasn’t working after noon so I told the front desk to just leave it on my Centurion Card. We got in a cab and took a short ride ($8 including tip) to the seaport. The Norway, once upon a time the largest cruise ship in the world, was docked right next to the Explorer and looked like a shrimp boat by comparison. We left our bags with the porter, who reminded us that we’d best tip him now as we wouldn’t see him again, so I gave him a couple of bucks. We got into a long line at the metal detectors before we could get in the long line to check in. I waved my gold card around but no dice—you needed to be Chairman’s Club to bypass the line. Clowns entertained us while we waited and we finally got to the front of the line where we were directed to stand behind two other couples in a new line, throwing a glitch into the multi-server queue algorithm. They forgot to take Hunnybear’s Canadian passport and we got stopped going up the escalator and had to return and wait some more. Finally we were cleared to board, got our welcome picture snapped, and stepped across the threshold onto the ship.
Our cabin was on deck 2, the lowest passenger deck. We found it right next to the stairway and when we opened the door we were stunned. It was enormous! We had lucked into a handicapped-accessible cabin almost twice as large as a standard one! The bathroom was sprawling and, if we didn’t accidentally hit the “emergency call” button right next to the “flush” button, we were going to have a great time here. It was time to eat so we went up to deck 11 to the Windjammer buffet for some lunch. There wasn’t much of a line but a small sign proclaimed that the same food was available at another buffet station behind this one so we went there and found it completely vacant. I had a double hamburger and a little piece of yummy Atlantic salmon while Hunnybear made herself a salad. As a rule I don’t eat dessert but they had little fruit tarts, which Hunnybear likes, so I ate one for her along with a little piece of orange spice cake. We picked up what we thought were two glasses of water but they turned out to be lemonade so we went off in search of water and eventually had to have the attendant guarding the water station make the glasses for us.
We explored the ship after lunch and found it just incredible. The Explorer holds 3800 passengers and 1200 crew. It has three large dining rooms, theaters, an ice-skating rink, rock-climbing wall, and a huge atrium with shopping mall. A controversial innovation for cruise ships, the Explorer has a gourmet restaurant available for a surcharge of $20/person as well as a full Johnny Rocket’s restaurant, also for an extra charge. The ship was full of kids, it being Thanksgiving week, and there was plenty for them to do. They had half a deck off-limits to adults for them to play in. For us big kids, the casino was enormous and had a whole bank of dollar and quarter video-poker machines as well as a zillion slots and table games. We would visit there after sailing. We browsed some nice photographs in the art store and then heard the final announcement for the lifeboat drill so we donned our life vests and mustered. That ordeal over, the fun part of the cruise could begin!
The ship launched 45 minutes late due to some late-arriving passengers and we saw it pull away from the deck-14 Crown Viking Lounge. I was eager to get to the business center because there was a notice that they had something called the “CyberCabin” in which I could get unlimited Internet access from my room! It didn’t have a price tag though and I figured it would be 2-3 times as much as broadband in a hotel, which was $10 a day, so I mentally decided I’d pay up to $200 for a week of the service. It turned out to be only $100 so I immediately signed up and got a special phone and instructions. I didn’t set it up yet because the casino was opening and I wanted to check out the video poker before it filled up. We changed for the evening and went to the casino, deciding what our favorite machine would be. We won $10 playing quarter ducks and then went over to dinner, conveniently located in the Vasco da Gama dining room on the same deck as the casino. We were at table 478, an eight-top as requested. Our waitress was a pretty young Hungarian girl named Zsuzsa. She explained that it was the same name as Zsa-Zsa Gabor, but Zsa-Zsa had changed it to be more pronounceable by Americans and Zsuzsa didn’t collect husbands. Our tablemates were Larry and Shirley from Atlantic City, Paul and Rhonda from Sarasota, Florida, and a very good-looking couple from Malta who couldn’t speak English or anything else that we spoke, just Maltese, which I didn’t even know was a language just a cross and a falcon. Paul and Rhonda were drinking huge martinis so I ordered one too.
I started with a good Vidalia onion tart followed by a standard chicken consommé (everyone else had a superb cream of tomato soup). The spinach salad was also standard and I passed on the penne pasta. We took Zsuzsa’s recommendation and had the prime rib, which came out wonderfully with the world’s spiciest horseradish. As a rule I don’t eat dessert but they had a chocolate almond cake so I just got one small slice à la mode.
Larry was a blackjack player so we retired to the casino and played some. The table was cold as an iceberg though and we all got hoovered. Hunnybear went to bed and I played a little ducks to no avail before retiring myself.
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[This message has been edited by QuietLion (edited 11-19-2000).]
[This message has been edited by QuietLion (edited 11-19-2000).]