1/6/05 – On the boat –

Ship – Crystal Harmony
Length – 790 feet
Weight – 49,000 tons
Draft – 25 feet
Top Speed – 22 knots
Passengers – 900
Crew – 600
Captain – Birger J. Vorland

The first day at sea we didn’t do much other than lounge around. We had a nice late breakfast out in the sun on the deck, and then explored the ship. There are 12 decks, 12 has a full gym and spa, as well as lounge chairs out in the sun near the bow. 11 has two pools, one with a retractable roof. There is a large dining area which serves breakfast and lunch, an ice cream bar, and a smaller dining area more like a grill. Near the forward pool there is often a band playing on the landing of the stairs to the upper sun deck. There is also a large formal reception area forward of the pools, and a full computer lab. I was surprised to find about 25 newer Dell desktops with flat panels and several printers. They have satellite internet access onboard, available for a small fee of course.

 The 10^th floor is where all of the penthouse cabins are, all have their own patios outside. The 9^th, 8^th, and 7^th floors are all staterooms, some have windows and some have portholes. Deck 6 has a large shopping area, with a beautiful jewelry store, a formal clothing shop, a convenience type store, and several other shops. There is also a full photo shop where they post pictures taken of the guests for purchase. There is a theater, a casino with all of the standard games, and another small bistro style restaurant. There is a lounge where they have comedy acts and live theater, and somewhere there is also a Japanese and an Italian restaurant. The ship is big enough that I don’t even know where these two are, I haven’t seen either one.

Deck 5 has the main reception area and dining room, which is beautiful and huge, with crystal chandeliers, and beautiful tables set with fine china and sterling silver. Today I got up late, had breakfast, read in the sun, had a Mexican buffet for lunch, and then read in the sun. We are going up to the penthouse floor for a canapé party later, and then we are having dinner at the Japanese restaurant. Tomorrow, we get in to Cozumel, which should be fun. I could get used to this.