That morning, as this was a day at sea, the ship passed through the Strait of Bonifacio. To the north, on the starboard side of the ship, was Corsica (France). On the port side of the ship, was Sardinia (Italy). The strait is just about 7 miles wide so one can see both islands from the stern of the ship as we passed through.
The Ship
Since this was a day at sea, I am going to talk about the ship. Part of the reason I was on this particular cruise was because it is, at present, the largest cruise ship in the world. The ship is reported as being 1188 feet long (more than three football fields in length from goal post to goal post) and 154 feet wide at the water line. (A NFL field is 160 feet wide) It boasts 2747 state rooms and can carry over 5400 passengers.
I guess that Deck five would be considered the main deck. There is the Royal Promenade which is kind of like Main Street. On the Royal Promenade is Guest Services, Boleros (the Latin music club and bar), Sorrento’s Pizza, Café Promenade (open 24-7 for snacks and drinks), On Air (a bar the featured karaoke), Silk (one of the three main dining rooms, Next Cruise (of course they want you to purchase your next cruise), several retail stores selling jewelry, fragrances and clothing. If you failed to schedule your shore excursions, there was a place to purchase those too. There was also an entrance to the Royal Theater.
The Royal Theater is the main auditorium. The Royal Theater is the place where 3-D movies were shown, the Broadway-style shows (Grease and Columbus. . .The Musical) were performed and the magician did his thing and sometimes the comedians did their thing. (The reason for sometimes for the comedian is because there is also a comedy club on the ship called The Attic, on Deck four.) The Royal Theater was very comfortable and quite attractive. Someone actually thought of something that made seating more functional. There are wine glass holders built into the armrests of the seats. I actually watched a 3-D movie (Star Wars: The Force Awakens), saw a magician and a comedian perform in the auditorium. It seemed to be perfect for each of the performances.
On Deck four, is another main dining room, as well as the all-important casino. The casino has everything, just on a smaller scale. There are slots, Black Jack, Poker and many other games. One thing surprised me though–smoking was allowed in the casino and smoking was not allowed almost any place else on the ship. The jazz club, Jazz on 4, in addition to Studio B (the ice skating rink that also hosted its two ice shows, 1887–An Ice Spectacular and ISkate) were also on that level. Just as important, Izumi Hibachi and Sushi is on Deck 4.
Deck six was home to Boardwalk (home for Starbucks, Johnny Rockets, Sabor-the tequila bar, one of the two arcades) and the Aqua Theater. The Rock climbing walls, two of them, were just above Boardwalk and accessed from Boardwalk. The Aqua Theater had two water shows (The Fine Line and Hideaway Heist) and also showed outdoor movies on its two large screens. Deck six is also home to the fitness center and spa. The fitness center had most of the important equipment but also had personal trainers. The spa had the obligatory massage, hair and nail services but also offered tooth whitening and facial injectables such as Botox, Perlane and Restylane.
Deck 8 has Central Park. Central Park is a park area with real trees, real grass, sidewalks and benches. Central Park is also home to several of the specialty eateries (Chops Grille, 150 Central Park, Jamie’s Italian and Vintages-the wine bar). Dazzles (a relaxed nightclub) is on Deck 8.
Deck 15 has a full-size basketball court along with a Harmony Dunes, aft. Harmony Dunes is miniature golf. Next to Harmony Dunes is the landing pad for the zip line that starts out on deck 16. 
Forward on deck 15 are the pools as well as the exit for the three water slides, The Perfect Storm, that start on deck 18. Scattered around deck 15 are plenty of deck chairs to watch the activities or just rest, relax and absorb the sun and fresh air. This is the type of relaxation that most people need. Pools and all of the other outside activities are on Decks 15 and 16. If one wanted to avoid children, there were also adult only pool and hot tub areas, as well as an adult only solarium.
For the teens and those of us who are young-at-heart and still enjoy an arcade, there is video arcade on Deck 15. Deck 15 has specialty areas just for children and just for teens, both with staff supervision.
Deck 16 is also part of the outside activities area. Aft are the two Flow Riders. These two facilities, one on the port side of the ship and one, starboard, are surfing and body boarding simulators.
Water is forced up an incline at a high rate of speed, allowing one to body board or even surf on the ship. (I have seen similar facilities at a water park in Kansas City.) The starboard Flow Rider was for body boarding and the port was for surfing. It is a great concept and was fun to watch. The ship has instructors to help learn either. People from childhood age to older adults joined in. The body boarding side allowed for two people to partake at the same time. Surfing only allowed one. This same area of the ship is the launching site for the Ultimate Abyss. This is a pair of enclosed slides that go from deck 16, all the way down to deck 6, ending on Broadway. I did not try it myself but wish that I had. Also, the zip line launched nearby, ending on deck 15. (This I did.) It was a blast. Both children and adults seemed to have a good time on both. The adults seemed to be more excited than most of the kids, especially on the Ultimate Abyss.
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As I spent the whole afternoon out there, I was able to get lunch at Mini-Bites. Mini-Bites is right out on deck so you don’t have to go inside. It had the usual lunch fare of burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese sandwiches, fries, soft drinks and other fast food fare. There was also an area that had soft-serve, self-serve frozen yogurt that was available.
The Main Dining Rooms
I had selected “My Time Dining” because I did NOT want to be stuck with a particular supper time. The main dining rooms also did breakfast. I was assigned to The Grande Restaurant, Deck 4, for dinners. I could make a different reservation time every day or just go and wait in line. Waiting in line was never more than 20 minutes. Tonight, Saturday, I had a different wait staff, Angelie and Huzzaimi. Again, they were both very attentive. I decided to eat simple because I knew the evening would most like end with pizza, wine and some jazz, probably late night dancing. Dinner was roast chicken with broccoli, carrots and mashed potatoes. Of course I had wine and a chocolate dessert. Now one might say that it sounds like a boring meal but it was very good, not spectacular, but very good. I am not a fan of seafood but it was also on the menu.
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There were also many other activities on the ship for children, teens and adults of all ages. Some of these activities and events included a family table tennis tournament, a balloon twisting class, a black jack tournament, a volleyball tournament, a pool volleyball tournament, karaoke, a poker tournament, beer, martini and wine tasting. This list is not even close to being complete.
If one was looking for a late night dance party, it is available too. This moved around between Studio B and The Attic. There was also Latin music and dancing every night at Bolero’s on Deck 5. In my opinion, EVERYONE should be able to find something fun to try or do on this ship. If nothing else, you could sit at the bar and drink or people watch. I even spent some time just sitting on my balcony, relaxing, listening to the water and watching the moon and stars over the Mediterranean.
Off the ship, there were more than enough organized shore excursions as well as opportunities to go off the ship and explore and experience the territory on one’s own.
Now I don’t want you to think that everything is perfect because NOTHING is. The shore excursions are not free and some of them are expensive. The ones that I took were reasonably priced and well worth it in my opinion. Two of the four excursions that I took INCLUDED lunch. Three of the four excursions I would recommend. Now the beverage packages were NOT inexpensive either but supposedly one could/would save money by purchasing the packages. The “Classic Soda Package” should include non-Evian/non-sparkling bottled water. Voom, the internet package, is also not inexpensive but I don’t have a problem with its cost because you could purchase service by the day or for the whole cruise. Hopefully the cost is a deterrent for some people who just spend TOO much time on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. I did see a fair number of teens and 20-somethings with their ‘swipe-finger’ glued to their phone. Lastly, the in-room movie prices were just OUTRAGEOUS. These were not first-movies. Most of them were at least a year old and could be rented on Netflix normally. There is no reason for the cost to be that high.
All of the shows are free but sometimes requiring making a reservation which means some planning but that is because of the seating limitations. The venues, the Royal Theater and Studio B, as well as the Aqua Theater, are all very comfortable.
This is about it for this post. Night-night.
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Please leave comments and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at DrJ@the-wandering-doc.com