Ship Secrets

Derek got to go on a special, behind-the-scenes tour of our ship. Only a few people get to take it, but you are able to see areas normally off-limits to the guests. (So, he was only able to take a few pictures, for security reasons.) Did you know that all cruise ships have a medical center and a morgue? Well, you know, people do die, and the average age of cruisers is a little higher than that of the population as a whole. (From what I saw at the buffet, some people might actually manage to eat themselves to death. It's a twenty-first century Trimalchio's feast!) This ship has room for three bodies. The doctor joked that if they start passing out free ice cream, you know they needed the freezer space for a fourth body. Okay, I guess medical humor is just a little strange.

Navigating a ship is very complicated, especially if you are sailing through narrow channels full of icebergs. (The secret, according to the captain, is just to hit the ice slowly enough that you gently push it out of the way.) There are multiple ways to steer the ship, including a joystick. Even when the ship is docked, there are always at least two people whose only job is to keep watch on the bridge. There are also lots of safety features, like some very nice lifeboats. Oddly, cruise ships do not rely on GPS. They use it only as a backup system. The primary means of navigating are compasses and paper charts. And eyeballs. I'm not sure if that knowledge is comforting or not. Especially when the whole ship was completely shrouded in thick fog one morning. On the other hand, I think I trust people more than computers. As Calvin (of Calvin and Hobbes fame) once said, right after the toaster incinerated his toast, "When you consider how well most basic appliances work, it's amazing that anyone ever gets on an airplane." Hence, the two people keeping watch on the bridge.

Yes, Derek got to meet the captain. Yes, the captain does actually steer the ship.



Some long-time cruisers complained that they didn't get to see the captain and chat with him as much as they usually did. The captain explained that he had spent more time than usual steering the ship, since this was only the ship's second time in the area and he needed to steer through the rocks and the ice. Seems like a pretty important job to me. Much more important than hanging out with the passengers!

Derek was very impressed by the ship's huge laundry room. A ship that big generates a lot of laundry. They change the sheets for all the passengers every day. There was a sign in our bathroom that said to hang up the towels if we were willing to use them again, but they were all replaced every day, too. And all the tables in the dining room had white tablecloths and cloth napkins. And I thought WE had a lot of laundry to do! The ship has huge mangles to fold and dry the linens all at once, to avoid needing to iron them.



Derek was unfamiliar with mangles--yes, those things you used to crank the laundry through to wring out the water. Who knew anyone still used them?

Derek also got to tour the engine room. The ship has 6 engines and can run fine at full speed with 5. They can tear down and rebuild an engine on board while the ship is at sea. The anchors are also impressive, more than 6 feet long.


The ship has two, and an emergency backup. EVERYTHING on the ship has backups. Hearing about some of the safety systems from Derek made me feel better. Even when it was foggy.

The tour also included the galley. Can you imagine feeding 1000 people all at once? Complete with special requests like "Can I have the gravy on the side?"


So the galley is huge, with some of the biggest pots I have ever seen. I think the food was extra good, because the executive chef for the whole cruise line was visiting our ship to inspect operations. Yes, feeding that many people is like a military operation. A few supplies:


And, just in case the regular food on the ship isn't good enough, there is also a premium restaurant on board, Sabatini's. It is by reservation only and costs an extra $20 per person. (Yes, in case you have any money left by that point in the cruise.) As the name suggests, it has an Italian theme. Dinner is served in courses, with lots of tastes of lots of dishes. And by "lots" I mean I lost count. Highlights I remember: antipasti with marinated veggies and cured meats,



seafood, salad, soup, pizza, multiple pastas, and a choice of main courses. I chose lobster tail with champagne butter. And the tiramisu was also memorable. We ate there on a slow night, when most people were still ashore in Juneau. There was only one other table of people in the whole restaurant, so we had three waiters to dote on us all evening. We were so spoiled!

Oh, in answer to a question: how much do people dress up on cruises? Well, we dressed up a lot on formal night. Maybe 10% of the other passengers were as dressed up as we were on the formal nights: tuxes and long gowns. Others had on glittery cocktail dresses and dark suits, for the most part. On the other nights, dinner was a lot less dressy. I wore a dark skirt and a dressy blouse. Derek wore khaki pants and polo shirts, which was pretty typical in the dining room. The other people at our table were slightly less dressed up. During the day, there were lots of jeans and khakis. Sweaters, fleece pull overs, and tacky souvenir tees were popular. I even saw one man in a shirt that said "I'm retired, this is as dressed up as I get."