I left the hotel at 11am. And was walking on the ship at 11.45. And of course my jaw was flapping and I was ooh-ing and ah-ing.
The world’s Newest, Biggest, Widest ship! And it is amazing. I can see what all the fuss is about. And yes it is HUGE, Ginormous! And I haven’t seen a crowded place yet. 6200 passengers but so spread out.
The thing that is amazing me is the width. So very wide.
It has seven neighbourhoods.
Central Park – with thousands of live plants. It is a long arcade running down the centre of the ship. Bird and insects move in. So many degrees cooler than other places.
And The Boardwalk – another long arcade running down the centre of the ship. Carousel and many food places. Rocking chairs and the Aqua Theatre at the end.
Also lots of other stuff.
My room is a balcony over the Boardwalk on Deck 11. I could see the boardwalk, I could see the Aqua Theatre and I could see the ocean. Win,win.
My Muster station was in the Aqua Theatre, so we sat in comfortable chairs in the shade. How civilised.
It was then time to check out the Lounge. I wasn’t planning on going in – It was going to be crazy. There were over 2,500 Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacles on board so things are different. There is no Concierge Lounge on the super ships. Just a Suites (and Pinnacle) Lounge and The diamond lounge – for Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle. But it would not be big enough – so they have taken over the whole “Entertainment Place” and made three Diamond Lounge. D Lounge, Jazz Club, The Attic. I happened to go down there at about 4.40 and they were queueing. Hundreds of people. The doors were shut so no one could go in at lunch time and stake out chairs.I went into the Jazz Club ad it was fine. They had food out and walked around with trays of red, pink and white wine, bubbles, beers and a few others. You went to the bar if you wanted other drinks. And it worked really well. Well done to them. I met lovely people in there.
I watched people on one of the water slides for a time.
Then up to the top – deck 16! to meet the gang from yesterday and to watch sail away. The ship is so huge. The Captain backed out and spun around, and off we went. Through a very narrow shipping lane with lots of traffic. Two big ships were coming in and passed very close. Lots of horn blasting and waving to say hello. At one time, as we were turning about 70 degrees I looked forward and though “Gee, we are going close to that big white building”, then realised it was in fact the other end of the ship!
We then stayed up on the top drinking, laughing and yelling until dinner time – -but not me. I had a booking for the Aqua Show. You book shows on the big ships. Not a reserved seat…just a place. You walk up and they scan your card and let you in. And best of all I did it correctly. Made the booking, got the time correct and all.
So there I was off to see “The Thin Line”.
OH MY GOD!
The Aqua show! I am blown away. The theatre is at the very back of the ship – and is about the same size as a big backyard pool. (not twice the size of Reveley Cres). It has a floor that goes up and down in sections and a troop of the most amazing, talented people.
I thought I was going to a diving show. Wrong! I went to one of THE most amazing shows I have ever seen. Up there with Moulin Rouge and Cirque du Soleil.
It was an hour of super high energy and thrills. A mix of Hip Hop dancing, acrobatics, trampolining, tight rope, synchronised swimming, trapeze, parkour, Red Bull cliff divers, oh and diving. And so much more. It was amazing. There were 17 performers and must have been even more techs as the show was so complicated. So much equipment.
So good. What a start to this part of the trip.
Next stop Palma de Mallorca. Click below to go there.