After 24 hours we have gone from cruise newbies to cruise experts.  What we have learned so far is that cruising is not unlike orienteering – choices and decisions need to be made at every turn.  The only difference is that at orienteering, they don’t ply you with continuous food and drinks.

Let’s back track a bit … we farewelled Stralsund yesterday morning, and took the BMW for its last spin, back to Rostock.  No autobahn, but being a Sunday, traffic was light.  Ian dropped me at the cruise terminal in Warnemunde, leaving me in charge of the luggage, while he returned the car and took a train back.  It wasn’t hard to locate the cruise terminal – the enormous floating “hotel” berthed next to it was something of a giveaway!  The Regal Princess is many times bigger than say the Spirit of Tasmania (which is my only point of reference).

The ship was in port all day, allowing passengers already on board time to do day trips to Berlin, or explore the local area.  Hence when we boarded, it was largely empty.  Embarkation took only a few minutes – just a quick passport and security check.  First on-board navigational challenge – finding our cabin, I mean Stateroom (even the cheap inside cabins like ours are referred to by this grandiose term).  We are in A109, which is on Deck 12, and right at the fore of the ship.  We examined the helpful schematics on the wall and ascertained several route choices.  First, there is the decision to make between the lift or the stairs.  Next, decide which of the three sets of stairs or lifts you wish to take.  This choice depends on your destination, the catch being that not all decks are served by all sets of lifts or stairs, so you may find yourself needing to backtrack out of a dead end (usually a dining room), and go up when you should be going down.  It is not difficult to do 180s, especially when you can’t see the water to work out which way is forward.

Having arrived in the Stateroom, the choices were more limited.  The main one is which source of illumination to select – there are far more lights than the size of the room warrants.  There is also a temperature choice, and a choice of TV shows.  Otherwise, things just go where they best fit.  The room is actually quite well designed – we have a very comfy king sized bed, a desk and chair, a small fridge, plenty of cupboards and drawers, a wardrobe, and a bathroom which is not exactly spacious, but bigger than the ones on the Spirit.  There are hot and cold running towels which get replaced daily.  The staff keep leaving instructions in the room for various options (Complimentary fruit? Room service breakfast? Mandatory safety briefing).

I’m not sure where the time went, but after unpacking a bit and exploring a bit, we found ourselves outside one of the dining rooms at 5.30pm.  We only went there to talk to the staff about GF options, but found ourselves being ushered to a table.  The decision making began all over again.  When do you eat? Where do you eat? What do you eat? Who do you eat with? How much do you eat? What do you eat in between meals?  Suffice to say there is plenty of food and plenty of variety.  My coq au vin in burgundy sauce, with mashed potatoes and fresh asparagus, was very good.  So was my English toffee and cookies and cream ice cream.  The service was attentive and they looked after Ian well (he will write more details).

After coming to grips with food and accommodation, we were ready to investigate the mind boggling range of activities on offer.  But first it was time to depart Germany.  Sailaway was 9pm, and it was a lovely calm night on deck.  The pier was lined with locals and tourists waving us off – I guess a ship of this size, literally sailing into the sunset, is spectacular.  It was certainly a very smooth process – you can hardly tell that the ship is moving.  There was a bit of “our horn is louder than your horn” going on – ours played the “Love Boat” theme which reverberated round the harbour (and must drive the residents crazy).

After the excitement of finally being in the Baltic, we took in a show in the 700-seat theatre.  This was a piano player who punctuated his brilliant playing with amusing stories – many of these were about growing old, which we sadly related to all too well.  There were many dance/party options well into the night but at this point my choice was to fall into bed.

Today was an “at sea” day as we head towards Tallinn.  First choice – where/when/what for breakfast.  We shared a table with an American and a Canadian couple, and swapped travel stories – the Canadians are on their 47^th cruise!  The activity schedule was jam packed with movies, classes, shopping, sports, trivia, dancing – it made our heads spin.  It was a lovely morning, so we opted for some fresh air and something familiar, and took to the running track.  This was actually quite good – 7 laps = 1 mile, and you run a continuous circuit so you have plenty to look at as you go.  I covered 15 laps and Ian did 22.  After that, a dip in one of the hot tubs seemed in order.  It was a bit surreal sitting in bubbling water watching the ocean go by, 17 decks up.  There is only a small feeling of sideways movement (though the sea is like a millpond so far), no rocking or rolling at all.

Next we took in a short talk on Tallinn, followed by a trivia competition (16/20 – not good enough to win the prize).  Now we are trying to work out the best order to have dinner (it is formal night so we are dressing up), see the theatre show, and take in some dancing.  We are still getting used to being waited on hand and foot, to ordering anything we like from the menu, to having our drink cups filled at any bar of our choice, to helping ourselves to yummy sweet treats as we walk by a pastry shop or cafe.  And that’s before we even get to the popcorn or ice cream.  We have instigated a stair climbing regimen and a strict rule of only one cake per hour.

This evening was the first of two Formal nights on board, with the dress code jackets and ties for men, and evening or cocktail dresses for women.  There was a champagne waterfall, and the Commodore welcomed us and introduced the most senior staff.  Dinner for me was crab and cheese quiche, followed by roast lamb, and rounded out with something decadently chocolatey.  Delicious.  Ian had duck breast, beef tournedos, and banana flambé.