Deck 1 had a small set of passenger cabins as well as the dining salon. As you rounded the corner to head into or out of the salon, there was a set of bulletin boards full of information. First posted was a list of our itinerary:
Next item was a little surprising to us, a list of every passenger's name, hometown, and cabin number:
Also on this side of the board was a list of crew members and their main assigned areas of the ship. I appreciated being able to see the proper names of the staff we thought did a good job so that I could make sure to name them properly in my post cruise survey praises. The final item that was up all the time was little cards showcasing by name how many people had that specific number of "stars" or sailings with the line. That's my name as the sole 1st cruise person on that top left card. On the 2nd week, these cards were changed out and I got to be on a list with a couple people under "2nd cruise." Note that these cards refer to me as "Ms." which is how I listed my name on the paperwork. As the cruise went on and we picked excursions with multiple time slots up to Ali to assign, we found us listed on those schedules as Mr. & Mrs. At some point along the way, I started noticing my name written as Ms. again. Who knew I would get married, go on a honeymoon cruise, and get divorced all in a 2 week period?
I'm a planner by nature, in case it wasn't obvious by all the detail in these blogs, so it was odd to me to have to wait until we were onboard to not only book but even to learn about our shore tours options. In our cabin we had been left a folder with general ship information and the list of tour options. For this meeting where everyone gathered in the Chesapeake Lounge, we were instructed to bring said folder with us. Ali introduced all of the main onboard officers and the guest lecturer Rachel Perkins before getting a good amount of help from Rachel going over the excursion choices. We soon learned that Ali had never done this itinerary before so questions like "Is there anything nearby to walk to?" was lost on her. To her credit, Ali did know her passenger demographic and described each tour option based on the amount of walking and the availability of bathrooms.
One snafu we soon learned is that we were only given one copy of this sign up sheet. Not an issue as far as filling out both our choices since the last column asked for how many attendees but it was an issue for remembering what tours and what times we had chosen. There is no tour tickets delivered to your room that you turn in to the tour operator like on the big ships. Real quick before turning in this paper to Ali at the end of her talk, we used the back of one of the other papers in our folder to jot down our choices. This was improved the 2nd week when we discovered 2 copies of the sign-up sheet in our new folder. With no casino, shops, or upcharge restaurants on board, there is no other fees on your onboard account except for excursions. Then in theory at the end of your sailing, they put a bill in your room and have you settle with the hotel manager on the last day. You can choose the few complimentary shuttle options or just get off the ship to do your own thing in every port and have a zero balance at the end. Or you can have sailed enough to get free excursions and choose to sign up for everything. The theory is that they have a checklist when you show up for the tour based on your cabin number and if you decide at some point not to go after all, then you shouldn't be charged. On the big ships, they require you cancel any reserved excursions within a certain time frame, usually 48 hours in advance of port arrival. We took the time to let Ali know the few times we changed our minds about a tour but alas, the bill we were given at the end of this first week charged not only Dad despite his comped tours but both of us for the ones we chose not to go on. Dad took his trip confirmation showing the comped tours to Hotel Manager Cheree and she cleared his charges and the ones for tours we didn't attend.
With the only other item on our schedule for this afternoon being a 3:30PM time slot for anyone with dietary needs to meet with the Executive Chef, I took the time to walk the ship and grab photos of each public area. Our cabin was the 2nd to last cabin on the port side of deck 3. A short walk to the right led to a door leading to a small deck space. There is a little bit of a step to go over as you pass through the door. Nice quiet spot to watch the wake and look over the ship's only tender boat. This tender boat hung just outside deck 2's aft door which is why deck 2's door was marked as crew only. When they used it, it was lowered to deck 1 just outside the dining salon where you climbed down a couple steps to reach the long narrow platform before boarding. Tons of railings and deck hands there to help make the transition if anyone needs assistance.
From this 3rd deck space, you could climb the stairs up to the open top deck area. This is where you have the putting green, gym machines, and lots of seating and loungers. There is one elevator, an old apartment style elevator with a gate between you and the door. The elevator does go all the way up to this top deck but some people had trouble using it because the latch on the outside door would stick from the inside. This gym space had 1 elliptical, 1 machine for your arms, and one exercise bike. The area was surrounded by a plastic tent covering.
Right across from this elevator is a small set of stairs that also lead back down to deck 3 putting you back in the middle of the ship.
View back toward our cabin from where those stairs lead from the top deck Our cabin is the 2nd of the 2nd set of doors on the right of this photo.
To my left in this photo is the 3rd deck library/lounge. Both the 2nd and 3rd decks had these lounge spaces with seating, a table, and sources of personal amusement like books, puzzles, and games. Each lounge also had an internet router so 85% of the time, the space would be filled with people who brought their devices to be closer to the internet signal. Later in the cruise, Ali would list in the schedule self led games of bridge, gin, and dominoes in each of the lounges. This deck had a computer and printers for passenger use - one here in the lounge which Dad had to fix for them to connect to the internet, and one outside in the landing. Note the door across the room leading to the outside. Each lounge had these doors that led to a small outdoor platform. Great for viewing during the cruise but as it turns out, these platforms became gangway entrances/exits dependent on how high the tide was. They did have deck hands available to help anyone maneuver the gangway no matter where it was but it was definitely a glutes workout the higher the incline became.
The rest of the decks had the elevator doors by each stair landing midship. Wasn't much walking to go from whatever spot to an elevator and back again. The stairs themselves had railings the entire length and were wide enough to have people going up one side and down the other at the same time. Did pinch my fingers a couple times sliding my hand along the railing. Shoutout to steward Heather who we saw many times wiping down the stairwell railings. We told her the criteria we learned the big ships have to do if sickness gets too prevalent onboard and she said "Wow, my job doesn't seem so bad anymore." Who needs walking tours when you can just climb 3 flights of stairs every time you wanted to go back and forth to your cabin?
The last space on deck 3 is the bridge or pilothouse all the way at the front of the ship. Pictures from there to follow in a future post.
Deck 2 has more passenger cabins and some crew cabins. One of the funniest random moments I recall from this cruise is sitting alone in the 2nd deck library/lounge and hearing one of the crew members trying to find Ali by knocking on her cabin door. I couldn't help but chuckle as I heard *knock knock* Cruise Director Ali! *knock knock* Cruise Director Ali! a la Sheldon on Big Bang Theory.
Another oddity I found on this ship is that the only "public" bathroom outside of one's cabin bathroom is a single user powder room located in the deck 2 stairwell. It's right across from the deck 2 lounge and down the hall from the Chesapeake Lounge. It can be a great location if you just want to run out real quick and back to the activity but you really feel the inconvenience when it's taking a while for your cabin to be cleaned and only one person at a time can use the one public restroom.
If you turn right after stepping off the stairs on the 2nd deck, you find the ship's office. The first day it was said that someone would be manning the office all day but we soon learned that there's only certain office hours, 9AM-11AM and again from 8PM to 9:30PM.
The 2nd deck library/lounge featured a larger table and only a couple large chairs (on the other side of the room):
Turning left from the stairs eventually dead ends into the Chesapeake Lounge. This is where all of the main entertainment was held, all of Rachel's daily talks, the few art classes led by a guest artist, and the cocktail hour. This is also where you would find a self serve coffee/tea/hot cocoa machine, the one onboard ice machine, the sodas and snacks, and the remnants if any of the twice daily cookie delivery.
These big tables in the back of the room were used during the art sessions:
The rest of the room had couches and chairs scattered throughout so there was tons of seating even if everyone showed up for an activity. Only downside is these chairs have the end of the arms curve back in and connect on the inside edges of the seat cushion so anyone with curves like mine had those ends digging into my legs leaving bruises. Most of the time people went for the chairs first so it wasn't too tough to find a couch to sit on instead.
When it was time for cocktail hour, they set up a long table in front of the ice machine and one of the managers stood behind the table filling orders as people lined up to get their evening drinks. This was quite the popular spot as some people would down their drinks on the way to their seat and be right back in line.
I often see people caring as much about their coffee creamer and sugar choices as they do which wines are available. Here's what ACL had to offer:
There were pots to pour your own drip coffee or this machine where you could make cups of specialty coffee. Or if you're like me, use the hot water spout on the side to make hot cocoa from the packet.
And if your tastes lean more toward the finest beers ACL has to offer. Dad was pleased to see Michelob Light as he only drinks beer when he's on vacation if then.
The dining salon had a few chairs around the room that didn't have arms but for the most part, I had no issue fitting in the ones with arms either. I usually don't have an issue with dining chairs on any ship though I did have one already snotty hostess question whether I should move to a chair without arms instead on a previous ship. I'd rather you let me ask if I feel the need, not push for it when I'm already seated just fine in the chair with arms. The dining staff was great about helping those with mobility issues get to their seats and then moving their assistive devices out of the way until they were ready to leave again.
Up next - our first cocktail hour, dinner, and evening entertainment. Still to come - a photo walkthrough of our cabin!
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