The cruise ship companies have this whole thing planned to the nines. There are two or three regular dining rooms in addition to the buffet that is always set up 24/7 on the Lido deck. There are also two specialty dining rooms: one steakhouse and one Italian restaurant. You pay an additional (nominal) fee for dining in those restaurants, but it's worth it. I can understand why they get an extra fee for those places. When you eat at the regular restaurants, it's all inclusive (well, except for the booze and the sodas) and I saw people order two entrees at a sitting. The ship would go bankrupt trying to keep some of those folks in grub! O.K. So aside from eating three squares a day...oh, plus high tea at 4:00 p.m. in one of the dining rooms, what is there to do? I'll clue you in.
This particular floating city that we were on had a library, a computer room (additional charge for this), a game room with cards, dominoes, and Mah Jong, and a casino. The casino was open only certain hours and was not open while at port, only while at sea. I'm sure there was some kind of law about when they could operate. There are a couple of nightclubs with bands, dancing and other shows, and a theater with live shows. Each ship has a naturalist that gives presentations when there are interesting sites off in the distance (animal sightings on land, marine life sightings at sea...there were several whales spotted during our cruise), and they also do presentations in one of the lounges and in the theater on the wildlife and geography of the area you're visiting.
There are games. You can play bingo (for a fee) and there are other shipboard entertainments involving games to embarrass the passengers...all in good fun.
Oh, and did I mention the shuffleboard?
For those who don't want to put on the additional 1/2 to 1 pound per day that is estimated that each passenger gains, there is a gym, there are several pools, most with additional hot tubs, too. There is a basketball court. There is a tennis court (enclosed in netting....don't want anyone going after those stray balls). There are yoga classes and aerobics classes in the gym. You can also attend a special session on some kind of purging gimick thing, but I didn't fall for that.
There is a beauty salon, complete with haircutting, perming, dying, as well as spa treatments like facials. There is tanning.
Then, you can shop, and shop, and shop. The stores are located one level above the lobby. You will find the usual gift shops, specialty gift shops, and they also have specials they run every night, spotlighting a specific item for sale. You can drop a LARGE amount of money on one of these cruises if that's what you came to do. When you register at the beginning of the cruise, you place a credit card on file for the ship to use for all charges. You use that for everything: the cocktails, the soft drinks, the Bingo games, the postcards in the gift shop, the casino. There is absolutely no money that exchanges hands during the voyage. You just put everything on that one credit card. You can go to the burser's office every day and check the balance, but you cannot use cash for anything aboard ship. Oh, did I mention the champagne art auctions? Yep, they have those, too.
The two nights that you are at sea are the formal dining nights. You don't have to participate, but you can if you like. The ship has special backdrops strategically placed in various locations and you can get your picture taken in your full formal regalia in front of said backdrop. This was a popular activity. All the pictures for the trip (and they take a LOT of them) are posted in a specific hallway and you can go find your pictures and buy them from the ship (using your room key/credit card thingy of course). They take pictures when you are first preparing to board. They have staff who dress like pirates the first night of the cruise and they goof around with the patrons as they're waiting at the dining rooms to be seated for dinner. They take the formal pictures...they take pictures whenever they can.
There are shows most every night. The television schedule is posted in your room and there are lots of movies to take in there. They also have movies in the theater on occasion. The television has a channel for the ship and you can listen to any presentation the naturalist is giving, or get special instructions from the captain or ship's director.
So, day one is all at sea but with lots and lots of things to do. You will probably spend the day finding the right elevators and stairways that will get you back to your room. That night is the formal dining and formal pictures and entertainment in the lounges. The comedians were my personal favorites. Next installment: Ketchikan and the bridge to nowhere.
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