The days at sea was the part of the trip to which I (Hanson) was not initially looking forward. I like to walk. I take the stairs whenever I can—there are only 10 passenger decks on the Rotterdam. So I become familiar with the ship pretty quickly. You don’t take much luggage so you can’t take your hobbies. Internet time is expensive, so you can’t spend much time on line. In short, you have to rely on what’s on the ship. I’m not into lying in the sun. I thought I’d have too much time on my hands.
Well, if you’ve ever spent much time around residents of retirement homes, you’ve heard how they can’t get around to certain things because they are so busy—but they are retired at a place where most of their needs are being met by others! Now I know what they mean! We don’t have to make our beds. Or our meals. Or clean up after we eat. But we are busy! There are at least three lecturers: movie stars, sports, Hawaiian history. There are classes in Tai Chi, bridge, ballroom dancing, cooking. There is a different movie each day in the movie theater and several on the TV in the cabin. Then there are the scheduled-but-guest-run activities like mahjong, paddle ball, basketball, bridge, … Needless to say, the time is flying!
The ms Rotterdam is the flagship of the Holland America Line fleet. It is a 1316 passenger ship with 962 passengers. There are ten passenger decks and two (or more) crew decks. The passenger decks have both numbers and names. Five of the ten decks have cabins: 1 (Dolphin), 2 (Main), and 3 (Lower Promenade) have inside and outside cabins, 6 (Verandah) has mostly outside cabins with verandahs, and 7 (Navigation) is all outside suites and an outdoor salt-water swimming pool and bar. There are laundromats on decks 2, 3, and 6. Deck 3 has an outside “Walkaround” deck all the way around the ship: 3.5 laps = 1 mile.
Deck 4 (Promenade) has the Queen’s lounge (the main entertainment theater), the main and the excursion desks, the art gallery, the Wajang Theater and Culinary Arts Center (for movies and cooking demonstrations and speciality wine sales), and the main dining room. Deck 5 (Upper Promenade) has the upper levels of the Queen’s Lounge and the dining room. It also has four duty-free stores, three bars, the casino, the card room, and the Explorations Cafe. The latter is a combination of a cafe and library with computers for news and Internet access. There is a selection of books, magazines, DVDs, and music listening stations. Deck 8 (Lido) has the spa and fitness center, the main pool with two hot tubs a bar and a grill, and the cafeteria—including the ice cream and desert parlor, which is open 9 hours a day. The roof over the pool and hot tubs retracts. Deck 9 (Sports) has the Crow’s Nest—a bar/lounge/tearoom/dance hall with 180° windows. The Sky Deck has fore and aft sections that are open to the air.
There are three sets of elevators/staircases for the passengers, who knows how many for the crew and staff. Decks 3, 4, and 5 are connected by a three-story atrium and grand curving staircases, called Times Square. In the middle of the atrium is a large, beautiful time piece/sculpture called the Tower of Time.
Our cabin is on 3, six doors from the Atrium, four from the laundromat, and two from the nearest door to the outside deck. If you haven’t been on a cruise ship, you might think that an inside cabin would be much like a cave. However, the wall behind the bed has a curtain with a light behind it, so you soon forget that there is no window. Anyway, with over half our time at sea, the view wouldn’t change very much. What space there is is used efficiently, and we usually don’t spend much time in the cabin between breakfast and after the evening show.
I’ll post more about life aboard ship—including photos—as we have other days at sea.