What do we have here?

It’s going on midnight and I seem to have the whole promenade deck to myself. The temperature is balmy and the seas are calm as our ship slices through the water heading south through the Caribbean towards our first stop: Cartagena, Columbia. It’s our first night at sea after a hectic couple of days boarding the ship, getting oriented, unpacking and organizing our cabin.

Having met and observed some of our fellow passengers it is obvious that this is not the kind of crowd we typically run with. Tommy has quipped that we are on the Kohl's deck rather than the Tiffany or Nieman Marcus deck.

Despite not having had a facelift, wearing designer clothing, nor being able to lay claim to having already completed multiple world cruises, it appears that the crew is not going to discriminate against us because we come from more modest means. In fact, they just can’t seem to do enough for us. It’s been white glove treatment from the moment a chauffeur driving a Cadillac Escalade picked us up at the hotel to take us to the pier. Lohe, our cabin maid, has apologized multiple times for not greeting and introducing herself formally, but made up for it by tracking down a firm pillow for Tommy. Phil, who served us drinks this afternoon, has already determined our drink preferences. And Raj, our waiter at dinner, was quick to point out that if we didn’t like the offerings on the menu, he’d have the kitchen arrange something just for us.

All in all we are impressed with the level of service that Crystal provides and are already beginning to suspect that we are going to be very spoiled by the time we return home.

More tomorrow...
Norma