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Greetings from Ms. Noordam! The four of us, Mom, Mary, Helen, and myself are currently lounging in a giant sea of white in our deluxe veranda suite. We have white sheets, blankets, down comforters, pillows, robes, slippers… everything.
We took a taxi van thing from our hotel to the port yesterday to catch our boat- another near death transportation experience. The hour-ish drive was gorgeous - true Italian countryside. At cruise check in, we kept getting to bypass lines and such because we were “suite guests”. I can’t help but wonder whether or not they know that we really didn’t pay for this level of luxury, but oh well! Mom and I are first time cruisers, and according to Mary and Helen, we are “ruined” for life. We can never take another cruise. This ship is beautiful… absolutely beautiful. It is 2 years old, and it is a luxurious little city on the ocean. Our room is huge - a king size bed, sitting area with fold out couch, private balcony with tables/chairs/lounge chairs, dressing area, and bathroom with 2 sinks and bathtub. The toilet makes mom scream every time she flushes it… we are virgin cruisers, mind you. There
is a lounge down the hall from us that is exclusively for suite guests, and we went down there yesterday to check it out… WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY PAYED FOR THIS?? There is a constantly changing spread of little pastries and finger foods, juices and teas, and of course, an espresso machine. There is a concierge in the lounge all the time, specifically for suite guests, who can help you with any and all things you need. Wow, this is nice.
We also had some fruit trays and champagne “from the captain” chilled and waiting upon our arrival in the suite, which we drank immediately, but we declined the option to have “cocktails with the crew” after dinner. Dinner was at the “award winning” Pinnacle Grill, at a table for four overlooking the water. It was delicious, but at one point during the entrees I looked over and Helen was leaning slightly to the left in her chair, eyes closed, another helpless victim of the unrelenting jet lag. We sent her immediately to the room, and the three of us finished up, got dessert, and chatted with our waiter. The people who work on these boats are
so nice, but what a tough schedule! Our waiter is from Indonesia, and he is married and has a 2-year-old daughter and he only gets to see his family every 10 months. Sounds difficult…
Anyway, this morning we saw the smoking Strombolli Volcano right off of our veranda. Very cool. We are at sea today, moving quickly north on the eastern coast of Italy, forging ahead towards Croatia. Unfortunately I twisted my ankle again this morning - it was actually pretty comical. I spilled a whole cup of coffee on the beautiful white duvet as I tumbled melodramatically to the ground. Helen, true to form, immediately offered me a pain-killer from her 61 pound bag of tricks (I am telling you, she has EVERYTHING in there), and currently we think I might survive. A trip to the infirmary for some kind of heavy-duty brace is in order, considering that I obviously cannot keep myself together without some sort of aid.
Let me please elaborate on Helen’s bag of tricks. This is her 60 pound suitcase that she paid extra to check, and I have really honestly never seen anyone this prepared. She knows how to travel and she
knows that, of all people, she better come ready to face any and all situations because we do not tempt fate when it comes to Helen. As our adorable cabin steward was in here earlier talking to us about something, we look over and Helen, as she chats with us all, is rifling through about 3 gallon size Ziplocs of orange prescription bottles. I wonder if he noticed… She also decided to lock up the narcotics in the safe, in case anyone should try to steal them. However, after putting all of the 80 bajillion bottles in there, we found that the safe would not in fact close, and thus had to take some out. Not kidding, people. But, God bless her for being here because she has already saved me several times ☺.
Another note: fyi, and for those who know me well this is a big deal, I am on something like day 7 without my BlackBerry and I haven’t even thought about it until I wrote this sentence. Whoa.
We finished out our day at sea with some poolside lounging, surrounded completely by guests all 65+, some delightfully intense BINGO (I almost won not once but TWICE), and a perfectly cooked petite filet at the Pinnacle. We went and saw the Noordam singers and dancers at the show tonight, which was great, especially because about 5 of the 10 people on our row would nod off during the songs, then wake up to clap between songs. I laughed the entire time until I was crying. At the end of the show the cruise director talked about the dancing event going on at the night club and said he would “see everyone out and about”, and I just wanted to say hellloooooo no you will not! Have you seen 80% of these people?? Anyway, that is part of being on a ship this nice, so thank goodness I love old people!!
Bon Voyage!
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Emily Franke
non-member comment
Wow!
You ladies really sound like you are living it up, I'm so happy for you!! :O) I remember this 'special' area from our cruise, only I was not allowed past the signs. Special people only...that must be you. :O) sounds fabulous!! Can't wait for the next update, and make sure to include a picture of the balcony, I'm dying to see!! Love you all!!