Sitting at the foot of the incredible Norwegian mountains in Flam today was the new jewel of the fleet, fresh from her inaugural voyage. She still has that ‘new car’ kind of smell.
I half expected to fall in love with the new ship when I first stepped on board, she is, after all, completely music themed (even her decks are named after classical composers)…but in truth, I found her a little…intimidating. We’re all about smaller ships at the line I work for, and this..well, she’s big. She’s really big. And as a result, she feels a little less like a ship and more like…well, exactly what they wanted her to feel like: a five star hotel. That said, she is amazing, every inch of her is amazing.
Except one thing: there is no library. I knew this when I boarded her and started exploring, I knew that there was no proper collection, I also knew from talking to people that I knew who had seen her ,that the construction of the reading room that was intended to take the library’s place had never gone completely according to what was expected (I can’t speak to “what was planned” as I really have no idea)…but I wasn’t prepared for what was there: just a handful of travel guides at the edge of the upstairs lounge. An afterthought if that. Despite the fact that the library has absolutely nothing to do with me, I’ll admit that it made me sad to see.
The rest of it though….the rest of it was incredible. Top of the line computers in the tech classroom (which almost had me pressing my nose to the glass door just to get a closer look at them), showroom doors that actually lock for rehearsal, and a secondary lounge that is has a massive dancefloor and two stories worth of seating. Everything that everyone has been asking for, for years. They have built the dream ship.
I just found myself thinking that I wished she felt a bit more like a ship!
That said, it was nice to see the ‘big sister’, before heading out into the Norwegian mountains with a colleague of mine who is working as one of the management team on that glittering massive jewel. I couldn’t actually hike the mountains – wrong shoes, and I was in uniform – but it was lovely to see a friend and a familiar face. Especially since Brit always manages to make me laugh.
Although in truth I haven’t really needed that much cheering up lately; which is definitely something I am enjoying!