A day at sea, crossing the Tasman, mixed cloud but early twenties / seventies so very pleasant. Normally we’d be out doing laps but my Achilles strain has not improved, so I’m taking it easy for a couple of days and watch Husband walk past me every five and a quarter minutes as he chalks up another third of a mile.
Go to the end of this page now if you don’t want to hear about my passion for ships!
The ship we are on is a Vista Class ship of which HAL ordered five around the same time, all structurally very similar, with a fairly traditional profile. In the end they only needed four, and one was moved to another branch of the Carnival organisation The four HAL ones got a compass point for each name, so Noordam, Oosterdam, Westerdam and Zuiderdam. The fifth hull became Arcadia under the P&O flag. Later there would be others of almost the same design but slightly taller midships, such as Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam and Cunard’s Queen Victoria all three of which we’ve sailed on, and also some Costa Line ships have the same footprint. They are all Panamax, meaning designed to pass through the older locks of the Panama Canal, although this is no longer significant now the new, larger locks are complete.
Although small by current ship standards, the layout is very comfortable, mostly dictated by a few significant structures, such as the theatre at the pointy end which spans decks one, two & three and the Main Dining Room (MDR) at the blunt end which is on decks two & three. Otherwise on deck one, apart from the stalls and stage and what in the olden days would be called the purser’s office, it is all cabins. On decks two and three are all the public amenities such as bars, shops and two eateries - MDR and Pinnacle Grill. There are no cabins on two or three. Three is the one where walking takes place - one mile is three times round.
From decks four up to eight it’s just cabins, meaning a large percentage (most of these five decks) have balconies. Then on deck nine, most forward is the gym and beauty parlour, a pool which is indoor or outdoor depending on the retractable roof, then the lido buffet area, a huge space with many stations for different foods, and finally most aft is decking with an open pool and sunbathing area. Lastly is ten and eleven, which I’ll group together. On ten forwards is the large crows nest bar, immediately behind are cabins and then a walking track around the mid-ships pool and finally decking back to the after part of the ship. On eleven it’s just sunbathing on top of the forward structure. There’s no deck eleven midships unlike the Queen Victoria (Queens Grill) or Eurodam etc (Tamarind restaurant.)
Back to the blog ... all this rambling is because I have too much time on my hands as I’m not walking! However we do get some sunshine, through the clouds maybe but that’s life! We chat some more with some of our train chronies.
Then it’s get a glass of Chardonnay and lunch in Neptune Lounge, before we attend a wine tasting run by the ships sommelier, we cover a small selection of what’s available in the wine lists at present.
Next it’s jacuzzi and a cocktail and then I decide to go to Pilates - first time in about seven years I think. There is only me and one other, clearly a very fit lady, and the instructor, less than half my age, is a dominatrix who half kills me and the lady!
After all this I need a lie down so rejoin Hubby on the after deck but it’s getting cold now, before long we go in for a soak and dress for dinner. It’s formal tonight so carnation corsages have arrived in our room to enhance our DJs.
Then it’s some Brahms in the classical area before we catch the first half of the first performance of the company show at 19:30, and head for dinner at 20:00.
Dinner is fab-u-lous even though I can’t have an uncooked egg yolk on my tartare now (bloody USDA!) and we both think the lamb is amazing, and the soufflé perfect.
Then we get to see the second half of the second performance of the show, thus making our dining arrangement work with the showtimes the ship has chosen!
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