Sunday, March 27: At sea
Bob: For our morning walk after breakfast we circled the promenade deck a couple of times, then prowled around the interior of the ship, and finally circled around Deck 10, the deck above the pools, for another half an hour. At first we didn't think the promenade on Deck 3 was a complete loop, but then we discovered that by opening the double doors at the bow we could in fact walk a half-circle around the inside of the bow of the Atlantica and then start back along the other side of the ship. Our detour inside made for a curious break in the rhythm of the walk, but at least we were sheltered from the wind and weather as we closed each lap off in the bow. |
Monika: After the day in Nassau, we finally had an "At Sea" day, and did, what you are supposed to do on such days, almost nothing. Well, after breakfast, we decided we better get some exercise while the getting was good. We started on the promenade deck, but the promenade stopped at the bow, where we had to go inside and wander along a corridor around the theater. Here comfortable chairs were situated right next to port holes for some quiet reading. |
Bob: But the interior of the Atlantica beckoned, so we explored all the fancy decorations on decks 2 and 3, the main salon areas of the ship. I thought the decorations were quite pretty, even sumptuous, and not as over-the-top as the Costa Mediterranea that we had cruised with during Wanderung 18. Each corner of the staircases had an illuminated alcove with beautiful examples of hand-blown Murano glass, I think. Similarly, the Dante's Inferno night club was decorated with a set of red glass devils playing various instruments. Other rooms like the suite of Florian lounges, however, were decorated with either simulated or real frescoes. I think they were copies of sections of some famous artwork, but I couldn't be sure. The art plus the plush red velvet furnishings certainly made for a formal, almost church like, ambience, at least in the quiet of the morning. The casino was completely deserted at that time of the morning, but some copies of Venus de Milo and other Greco-Roman statues were scattered about the floor. Some staircases had marble banisters and columns, also supporting the Italian-villa like theme. |
Monika: Since we were indoors - with a camera no less -, we decided to just walk through the public lounges and take pictures. The Costa Atlantica is similar to the Costa Mediterranea that we sailed on for our Baltic cruise during Wanderung 18 in 2008, but not nearly as ornate. However, compared to any Holland America ship, it still could be called ornate. In one room, even the ceiling had reproductions of classical paintings. The casino had statues of beautiful nude women on each corner |
Bob: Although filled with sunbathers every afternoon, Deck 10 was also deserted early in the morning, so we could easily put in another half an hour of walking laps. Finishing our exercise, we returned to our stateroom. I used Baby to work on the journal and Monika took off for a shopping presentation where she got a new charm for her charm bracelet. We hooked up again for lunch and then spent the afternoon reading out on our tiny balcony and watching the deep blue waters of the Caribbean flow by. It was warm enough that even with a breeze induced by the ship's motion we could sit out there literally for hours, which was very relaxing indeed. Our balcony was level with the top of the row of lifeboats secured just above the promenade deck, but despite officially being an "obstructed view" cabin we had a wonderful, clear view out to the horizon. |
Monika: We finally decided, enough picture taking, on to some serious walking. So we went up to the sun deck, where we could walk all around, only had to be careful of lounge chairs and not to goggle too closely at the people sunning themselves. Since a lot of the passengers were European, the swimsuits were small with most people hanging out of them but there were still some nice forms of both sexes for his and her viewing pleasure. But after all that exercise it was time for some work. Of course, first the journal had to be brought up to date. After that I decided to attend a talk on serious shopping in Antigua and Tortola since a free charm was offered. I also managed to snag another charm bracelet that the lecturer tossed into the crowd. I found out that the US does not charge customs on loose gemstones. So if you want a big diamond, buy it loose overseas and then have it set in the states. After lunch we repaired to our room for some serious relaxation. Our room was called "obstructed view balcony". What this means is that there is a life boat underneath our balcony, so we cannot look directly down, only out over the blue sea. It also means that the people on the promenade deck below cannot look up, so we could sit on the balcony in whatever clothes we chose. I still had a beer I had smuggled on board and Bob had a Coke, we both had good books and so whiled away the afternoon - life is good. |
Bob: As tonight was a formal night, we spruced ourselves up as best we could before joining our tablemates at Table 222 in the Tiziano Dining room on Deck 3 aft. We enjoyed the company and the cuisine, but the service was as slow as usual and once again they dimmed the lights to encourage us to hustle ourselves out of the dining room at the end of the meal. I could understand that as they have to prepare the tables for the "late" seating crowd for dinner, but it was slightly aggravating to have huge waiting times between each course and then have to hurry up and eat so that they could clear the table. We attended the evening show as it was a full scale production of the ship's company, which consisted of 8 female and 3 male dancers and only two singers, one male and one female. So the performances relied heavily on the dancers rather than focusing on the singers as we had experienced on the Veendam during Wanderung 23. I found I much preferred the Holland American Line strategy of having more singers and focusing on the songs so that the lyrics were delivered effectively and had an emotional impact, at least for me. In contrast, the performances that focused on large-scale dance numbers such as that one on the Atlantica seemed, to borrow a phrase from Shakespeare, "Full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." When we discussed the performance with our table mates the following evening, they particularly complained about the high-intensity lights that swept out over the audience during the performance. The net effect of that was something like having a strobe light flashing in your eyes, and it really disturbed Bill, Sandy, and Chris in particular. Chris had asked for those lights to be redirected, but was told it was controlled by the computer program guiding the performance, and that in turn was installed by the corporate headquarters, so nothing could be done to change it. I thought the sound level was a bit high, but not as bad as on some other ships, and with my earplugs in the levels were quite bearable. And so to bed. |
Monika: But finally we had to take a shower and dress for our first formal night. Before dinner was the captain's reception with champagne and hors d'ovres. The hors d'ovres were nothing to write home about, but the champagne was rather good. The captain gave his welcome speech in the five official languages of the ship (Italian, French, Spanish, English, German) and introduced the officers. After that we had a nice dinner. The first production show was somewhat disjointed. Costa still goes with the lots of dancers, 8 females, 3 males, and only two singers and lots and lots of costume changes, some of which were of course rather skimpy both for the females and males. When they then ended with the traditional song "We are family", that you hear on Holland American Cruises when they introduce the complete staff, I did have to LOL (Laugh Out Load) - those were definitely not "family" costumes. The show did not start until 9:30 for first seating, so it was late for us afterwards and we went to sleep immediately. |
| Index |
| Prolog | Map of Transatlantic Cruise | Map of Drive in Ireland | Epilog |
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