WordPress photo challenge : Luxury Afloat…

What a perfect challenge from the WordPress team this week. After 2 weeks afloat in luxury I would love to share it with you…

Obviously a great deal of thought and design has gone into the décor. I found it restful and refined. The royal blue of the carpets with lots of brass fittings, the sweeping stairs down into the Atrium with the large, impressive, magnificent, revolving Waterford crystal world slowly turning and catching the light from the chandeliers. Exquisite artwork adorns the walls. a warm palette of colors accentuating an extensive use of crystal, marble, inlaid woods and brass, lovely flower arrangements, antiques and a full wraparound teak promenade deck with padded deck chairs. Words cannot really do the atmosphere and ambience of this cruise ship justice so I will take you for a photo tour through this luxurious ship I called home for 2 weeks.

This impressive globe hung above 3 decks of the Atrium area. Behind it you can see part of the art gallery.

Unusual light fittings glowed in the star encrusted ceiling that glittered with tiny lights.

 This corridor leads to the Casino. No photos are allowed to be taken in that area, but it had all the equipment to entice you to gamble the night away. This is a no cash environment, your door card, with your number and name, acts as a credit card for all purchases. So easy to run up a large bill. We were very careful, everything, including all alcohol, is charged at US$. But there is so much more entertainment available for free.

Looking through to the Pinnacle Restaurant. This restaurant offered a fine dining experience and was the only restaurant that charged for the meal. From $29 to $69. We did not dine here as the other restaurants were covered in the cost of the cruise and we considered their food to be of an excellent quality.

But I did take a photo of this restaurant.

This is the entrance to the Vista Restaurant, the A ‘la carte dining room, these meals were included in the cost of the cruise. When they had the formal evenings we would go here for dinner. Notice on the right hand side there is a hand sanitizer? They were set up every where and there was notices requesting us to wash hands and be aware of healthy habits, even told at the end of announcements over the intercom to wash our hands…

Jack all togged out in his formal Suit

This is the Vista Restaurant.

Seats are scattered everywhere.

Fresh flowers are everywhere.

 All the dining tables have a dainty orchid on them. Jack carried his sketch pad with him all the time and did 2-3 sketches of ship board life every day. This is a sketch of the orchids.

The Vista Dining Room also served afternoon tea every day. This particular day it was an Indonesian theme with delicious Indonesian delicacies to have with our tea or coffee. 

 It was the small details that impressed me. Every day these delightful fruit carvings greeted us in the Lido Bistro Restaurant.

I loved this “Tromp l’oeil” art work. I could imagine strolling around this classic Italian style garden, so peaceful.

These are the lift doors. Each lift  has a notice board on the wall alongside to let you know exactly where you are and what is on this deck. This is absolutely essential as the ship is so large I easily got lost in the first few days.

I realised that I didn’t get photos of all the areas. I missed the Green Spa area, where, for a price, you could indulge in various massages, facials, hair styling and cuts, manicures, pedicures and all that sort of pampering. The gym and a number of the bars I also missed. Maybe I will have to go on another cruise…

But apart from eating and wandering around admiring everything there was a great entertainment programme and of course there are the ports to be explored…

To be continued…