We had departed from Venice and made several stops among the Greek islands, and one in Turkey. But for today, I'd like to just talk about the actual cruise. We were on Splendour of the Seas, and it was indeed splendid. Everything was top-notch, and decorated so beautifully.
The Husband is a school teacher, so we are on a very tight budget, which means we usually get cabins that are on the lower end of the price range. You expect cabins to be small, and that's OK. There is so much to do and explore on the ship, we hardly spent any time in our cabin anyway.
That being said, while we were on the elevator, another couple invited us to come see their cabin, which was at the top of the ship. A bit of a difference, to say the least! I'm pretty sure their "cabin" was bigger than our first apartment. Such luxury, and seeing it first hand inspired us to dream of the day we could stay in a cabin like that. It had its own kitchen, a living room, a separate bedroom, and of course a balcony. The couple showed us pictures of their grandchildren, congratulated us on our anniversary, and after wishing each other well, we never saw them again. But what a treat!
Like most cruise ships, food was available virtually any time you could possibly desire it. One expects that when producing such large amounts of meals, the quality would suffer, but I enjoyed every morsel that passed my lips. Thank goodness we walked so much on the land tours, or I surely would have doubled my weight by the end of the week!
We shared our evening dining table with another couple also celebrating an anniversary, and we ended up hitting it off quite well with them. This is one of the things I really enjoy about cruising- how social they can be. We'd frequently go to the evening stage production with them (and I never cease to be amazed at dancers in choppy water), and sometimes even went to later night activities together. The Husband did a moving rendition of "Beautiful Day" by U2 one night at a karaoke bar. I opted not to sing. ;) There was always plenty to do no matter what the time.
In the halls, and on the deck, everything was kept clean, which is very important!! Another appreciated detail- a separate pool and hot tub for adults. We don't mind kids, but it was still nice to know we could retreat there if we needed to. A sizable gym was also available, and I was able to go and practice dancing without any trouble.
Ah, the dancing. That was my one complaint about this particular cruise. Each stop we made, there was some sort of reference to the culture there, yet here we were in the Mediterranean, even stopping in Turkey, with no mention anywhere in any show or silly shimmy contest of belly dance. As a belly dancer, this was a bit of a disappointment.
I really appreciate the attention to detail that Royal Caribbean does. Also, it is definitely geared toward adults and/or families. Other cruise lines we've tried seem to be catering to young people who want to party and meet other singles, which is fine. But it's not us! I'd recommend this cruise or one similar in a heartbeat.
No comments:
Post a Comment