Cruising in Paradise Day 4

There were two things I had never done before this trip, and that was to experience small ship cruising and the other was to cross the Pacific by ship.  We have five days at sea now with nothing but water in view, no land for 500 miles and no other ships on the radar for at least 50 miles.   And when we were told that the water was about 3 miles deep, it did give us pause for a moment!

The small ship experience is fantastic!  The folks you get to know are great and on this trip are from over 20 countries.  We even have another couple on board from Boise, and wouldn’t you know it, I know him!  The crew for the most part is wonderful. The Royal Princess has 680 passengers and about 300 plus crew members.  (That’s an amazing ratio!)  The staff has seemed to have adopted Jan and me, and act like they have known us for a long time.  They were calling us by name on the second day. The pool area, (Jan’s favorite) is a great meeting place.  People gather in the warm tropical sun and its amazing the things you learn about the folks on an afternoon in the pool.

And this ship is 592 feet in length where the Princess big ships are 952 feet in length with up to 3,080 passengers.  It’s definitely easier to find your way around the ship and know where you are (which Jan really likes as she says she is directionally challenged!).   We’re traveling about 16 knots so we’re feeling the sway of the ship, but everyone looks like they have had too much to drink, so we’re all in the same shape!!

Cruising with Herm