Six hundred and thirty-five chapters boring cruise
The day we boarded the ship was in the morning. After breakfast at the hotel, we got on the bus sent by the shipping company to pick us up and headed to the dock in Seattle. Here Hong Tao saw the cruise ship he was going to take. It was parked quietly on the dock.
The whole thing is white, with some red patterns on the bow and sides.
This ship is called Norwegian Jewel. It looks very new, and it was originally very new. According to the information given by the bartender, this ship has just been launched two years ago. It is 15 stories high and can accommodate more than 2,000 passengers. There are also 1,000
The ratio of multiple crew members and service personnel is almost 2:1. This is also a standard feature of luxury cruise ships. The higher the level of cruise ship, the closer the ratio of service staff to passengers is to 1:1.5. Any lower ratio does not constitute a business operation.
Cruise ship.
Standing on the dock, the side of the cruise ship is 3 stories higher than the dock. Several cranes are transporting supplies to the ship. At this time, you can distinguish the quality of the accommodation. Those square or oval windows on the side of the ship are so-called
Sea view room, further
Above is the ship building, with a string of red and white boats hanging here, which are lifeboats. However, in winter, the lifeboats of cruise ships sailing north are fully enclosed, so that the escapees will not freeze to death, otherwise there will be dangers
It's all useless without a lifeboat.
Behind the lifeboat are the so-called sheltered sea view rooms. Except for some outside light, you can basically see nothing from the windows in these rooms, which are completely blocked by the lifeboat. There are 5 floors above the lifeboat, including
The third floor has semi-enclosed balconies with glass curtain walls, which are standard rooms with balconies. The top two floors have fully enclosed balconies, where are the large and small suites. As for the inner standard rooms, they cannot be seen from outside the hull.
, they are all inside the hull.
Hong Tao and Irene's junior suite is in the corner closest to the stern of the ship on the 14th floor. The price here is the highest among junior suites because this junior suite has the largest area. It is almost 40 square meters and has a very good view. There is a bellman on board.
After the boat, we followed Hong Tao and Irene closely, taking them to the room, putting their luggage away, and waiting until they received the tip.
Although Hong Tao and Irene don't have much luggage, just a big box for clothes and two sets of ready-made bags, you can't refuse the bellman's help at this time. They rely on tips to make a living. The real salary is not high.
If you don't let them carry their luggage, they will lose their jobs. So since you can afford this money, you have to be able to afford the subsequent supporting expenses.
Traveling on a cruise ship is about comfort and leisure. These two words also describe a problem, that is, slow! Not only is the ship moving slowly, but the waiting time for the ship to depart is also very slow. Hong Tao and Irene are not the first ones to arrive.
But after waiting for almost 2 hours, the cruise ship finally started to move. It was pulled and pushed away from the dock by several small barges, and then began to slowly sail out of the port.
During the two hours of waiting for the ship to sail, Hong Tao and Irene were not idle. First, they lay in the room and looked at the evacuation map for 20 minutes. Then they took the blueprint and started running around in the cabin, euphemistically saying that they were familiar with the terrain.
I didn't return to the room until just before the boat sailed.
This is a problem of Hong Tao. No matter where he goes, he has to check the terrain first. Especially when boarding a ship. Every time he takes a ship, the unlucky guy from the Titanic will appear in his mind, in order to give himself the greatest chance of becoming the final destination.
Those who survive must first become familiar with the escape routes on the ship. For this reason, Hong Tao
I also insisted on spending an extra $300 to choose this suite. Because it is the closest to the lifeboat among all the small suites, and there is no need to walk through the same passage as others. There is an open-air staircase outside the ship building after exiting the door.
Go straight down to the 12th floor, where there are also several lifeboats hanging on the stern.
As the flying saucer-shaped tower in downtown Seattle gets farther and farther away and becomes blurry, the cruise ship also begins to speed up. But it's not at full speed yet. It's still in the bay, and a little further to the north is the Canadian city of Vancouver.
The cities share a bay, bounded by Canada to the north and the United States to the south. Only after exiting the long Strait of Juan de Fuca in front is the North Pacific Ocean.
After climbing for more than two hours, the cruise ship finally climbed out of the exit of the strait, and then began to turn right, heading north along the west coast of Canada. At this time, the left side of the ship's hull is the vast Pacific Ocean, as far as the eye can see.
On the right side of the ship is the exit of Fuca Strait and
The mountains on Vancouver Island. Only then can the advantage of the stern cabin be reflected. You can see in three directions: left, right and rear. If you want to look over there, look over there, especially when you look at the white waves rolled up by the stern propeller and the waves.
The flocks of seagulls flying back and forth gave me a vast feeling.
However, Hong Tao and Irene did not stay on the balcony for long. Even if the glass curtain walls were closed, it was still a bit cold here. As soon as the cruise ship left the strait, the temperature suddenly dropped several degrees and the wind picked up. At this time, they wanted to sit
Just go to the store on the ship and buy some thick clothes.
There are three stores on the ship, the largest one is on the 5th and 6th floors. Hong Tao and Irene went in and went shopping. They were basically no different from department stores in the United States. As for the prices, Hong Tao couldn't tell which one was higher and which one was lower. Anyway, it didn't matter.
You have to buy high and low. Although Hong Tao is from the north, the cold in Beijing is different from Canada, and even different from Alaska, so you have to listen to Irene in this regard. In any case, her hometown is also covered with heavy snow in winter.
In fact, Irene is not needed at all. The store has specially prepared cold-proof clothing of different grades and styles for passengers. Some are in sets and some are single pieces. You can mix and match them freely. In addition, the waiters inside will also introduce to you what kind of clothing can be used.
What kind of low temperature can it withstand? For example, if you are on a boat, wear something with a
Thick fleece-lined sweaters, shirts, and single pants are enough. If you want to go ashore, wear down-lined winter jackets and pants. If you are still not satisfied, they also have top-notch complete sets of down jackets. It is said that the American Antarctic expedition
This is what the team wears, and of course the price is national-level.
After leaving the store and passing through a corridor, the layout of the corridor suddenly changed. The walls on both sides were no longer decorated with oil paintings and other decorations, but turned into oval green mirrors, and the lights were dimmed a lot.
.Hong Tao took Irene in to explore, and it turned out that
This is the main theater on the ship. It is three stories high, with ordinary seats on the 5th and 6th floors. There are private rooms from the 7th deck. Since the ship has just sailed, the theater is not open yet, and some staff are busy on the stage.
With the scenery, I guess there will be activities in the evening.
After shopping, Hong Tao and Irene did not take the elevator back to the room from inside the cabin. Instead, they asked the store attendant to deliver the clothes to their room. They left the cabin and came to the deck. Not to mention, the waiter recommended it.
The clothes are really good. They don’t look too bulky when worn, just like wearing a pair of pants and a thin sweater. However, they have excellent thermal insulation properties. Even if the sea breeze is strong, you don’t feel cold.
There are many deck chairs on the 6th deck. If it were summer, they would probably be full of people, but now there is no one. The only living things are two young girls dressed as Inuit, who are guarding a
A small booth for taking photos of passengers is waiting for customers to come. You said you pretended to be Inuit, but you did it perfectly. The two girls were wearing thick leather clothes on their upper bodies, but their lower bodies were stockings on their thighs, and their feet were wearing fur boots.
"Let's go take a picture!" Hong Tao couldn't stand this kind of scene the most. Although the legs of the two girls were a bit thicker and far inferior to Irene, he still had to have sympathy, so he pulled Irene over, one person at a time.
I took a few photos while holding a girl in my arms, thinking it was to keep them warm.
After completing the good deed, Hong Tao was in a good mood, so he pulled Eileen and climbed up the gangway to the top deck. It was not so desolate here. There were about ten people, mainly children and their parents. Half of the top deck was
There is a swimming pool, but it cannot be used now because it is open-air. Even Americans who are in good health would not dare to play winter swimming under this temperature. There are two basketball courts and a small football field in the other half, where the children are playing ball.
, quite lively.
Although there are not many passengers on the top deck, all the necessary services are available. There are two stalls selling barbecue beside the empty swimming pool, which are made on site, and there are two small water bars selling various drinks. There are also
There is a rock climbing wall, and two young men are competing on the wall.
Hong Tao's good mood only lasted about 10 minutes before he was blown away by the sea breeze. Although his clothes were very warm, his face couldn't bear it. The wind was cold and hard. You could feel it on your face after standing in the wind for a minute.
The boat seemed to be a lot rougher. In order to prevent the wind from feeding him, Hong Tao and Irene could only return to the cabin. It was almost lunch time.
There are many restaurants on the ship, almost every other floor has one, but the scale and grade are different. Some restaurants are buffets, which are free, so you can eat whatever you want. Others require an additional fee, but they are all Western food.
There seems to be no Chinese food as well as Japanese food. Hong Tao doesn't want to go to the buffet. This is not because he has a good taste, but because he is not used to eating cold food all the time and still likes hot food, especially dinner.
So he and Eileen ran back to the bow of the 8th deck according to the diagram and found a Western restaurant. This Western restaurant is located in the cabin closest to the bow. Most of the walls of the restaurant are large glass structures.
The scenery here is very good. You can dine in the warm restaurant while watching the bow of the ship splitting the waves through the glass window and trying to move forward. It will be more fun if you catch a little wind, and those waves will be hit by the hard hull.
It breaks into pieces, then splashes up to Lao Gao, and then falls down.
After Hong Tao and Irene took a seat by the window, he once again decided that his decision to take a boat to Alaska in the winter was very wise, because the waiter in charge of ushering the table had already introduced that this restaurant was located next to the window.
Window seats are very tight. If it's peak season or there are many people dining at night, there will be an additional fee of US$15 for each seat here, and reservations are required for dining. (To be continued...)
