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4 - Sunday, July 21, 1985 - North Shore News

Revelling in royalty
on Princess cruise

I HAVE been up the Inside Passage several times,
but it was always either on a fishboat,

minesweeper or something like that. Never on a
luxury cruiser. And never on the luxury cruiser in
the world.

As fate would have it, my
wife and I were among the
few Canadians who got on
board P&O’s new flagship,
the Royal Princess, when she
docked one rainy morning in
Vancouver for her inaugural
run to Glacier Bay, Alaska.
I’m sure-everybody has seen
the vessel out in English Bay
at least once since early
June,

The ship is-quite decep-
tive, seen in the distance,
because you assume she is
built on the same scale as her
older sister, the famous Love
Boat.

Not only is she twice the
size -- 45,000 tons, 761 feet
jong -- but her design incor-
porates the use of ‘com-
puters, satellite communica-
tions, fins, independent
rudders and propellors and
new kinds of engines.

Most importantly, from
the passenger’s- point of
view, a different basic body
design was used which per-
mits the construction of
all-outside cabins. That is,
every passenger gets at least
‘a picture window, and some
152 staterooms have private
balconies.

And I mean private. They
are set up so that, if you
don’t lean over the rail, you
can’t see anybody, nor can
you be seen.

- Sunbathing on your
balcony, .maybe sipping a
drink, watching the lonely
vistas of the: northern
coastline go by, it’s as if you
had rented a cottage perched
on stilts over a beach, except
that the scenery keeps mov-
ing, the Veil of Maya forever
unravelling, and you really
can relax fairly quickly. .

Living seven stories above
the water level in a ‘cabin

‘with a sliding door that leads

onto a balcony on a ship,
one has to learn a few new
habits. like closing the
balcony door before opening
the other door leading onto
the hallway, otherwise one
finds oneself in wind tunnel.

There was one night that
will stand out forever. Hav-~
ing gone around Baranof
Island on the outside, we
found ourselves in a light
swell off the Gulf of Alaska
with a full moon abeam and
the sun just over the
horizon, even though it was
2 a.m., so that the moon
floated in orange and pink
light and the sea was a
diaphanous lens. The tinkle
of wine glasses, rustle of
silk, etc.

Since the Royal Princess
carries nearly 1,200 people, I
was a bit worried about feel-
ing crowded. I am not one
of those peaple who
subscribes to the rockery
theory of good times.

a

the joggers are out in force,
pattering along -- three times
around, I think added up to
one mile -- one merely has to
walk slowly and it is as good
as being along, since

strictly personal

by Bob Hunter

It was a pleasant surprise,
therefore, to find that it was
easy to become invisible on
the boat, and that the interi-
or was so vast there were
plently of times of day and
night when you found
yourself wandering about
almost as if the ship was
yours alone.

Also, between the balcony
and the TV set, you can se-
quester yourself in your
room quite nicely. Simply
leave the Do not disturb sign
up, call-room service, and

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forget the world.

Even in the morning
“rush hour” on deck, when
everyone else is breathing
too hard as they lope past to
bother doing anything more
than nodding.

Food? Well, naturally, it
was the best. The ship’s of-
ficers might all be Brits, but
the chef and his culinary
staff were Italian, and there
was much banter about the
British and Roman empires.
It was food for thought, all
right. (Explain this ar-

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rangement to Caesar!)

This is where the credit
card system has to be kept in
mind, especially if one is not
on an expense account and
suddenly finds oneself, taste
buds still trembling with
ecstasy after the Veal
Ossobuco Milanese, signall-
ing giddily for another
round of Pouilly-Fuisse ...

Scenery? i’d forgotten
how the long stretches of

coastline cast a spell over -

you. After a while, you do
feel a tranquility in your
soul. It is a feeling that
ought not to be mouthed up
and can’t really be described
It causes me to
shiver, it does.

So that’s luxury cruising,
eh? If you're going to ac-
quire a new exotic taste,
might as well start with the
state-of-the-art, and that the
Royal Princess definitely is.
Whew!

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