With MacMania 5 having fix sail from Tampa , I thought I ’d touch on a duo leftover detail from Departure Day before diving into our first full day aboard theVeendam …
One of the thing we did before we give larboard was to run a ship - wide emergency evacuation drill — clearly the least merriment of our ship - circuit card events but for sure very important . At 4:15 p.m. , when we heard the ship ’s Alexander Bell ringing seven times , we donned our life jacket and then continue down to the sixth level of the ship ( which has an exterior walkaround deck ) to find our lifesaver station . As can be project inDan Frakes ’ photo , it was crowded out on the walkway , but everyone stay orderly . After give your assigned place , you had to respond to a roll call of cabin numbers . When everyone was confirmed present from all cabins , the drill was over and we returned the life jacket to their storage point in the cabin — hopefully never again to be watch this week !
As an away , lifeboat technology has come quite a long way of life since the 24-hour interval of wooden rowboats in the 1920s . Today ’s lifeboat are fully sealed , hold back powerful engines , food and water for 150 people per lifeboat , and emergency GPS - ground stance transmitters . The design of the lifeboats certainly present me a incontrovertible feeling that if we did have to use them for some grounds , we would have a good prospect of being located by anyone explore . But enough of the emergency drill review article … on to the fun poppycock !
After some free time , we continue to the bow ( front ) of the sip , for the Geek Cruises get together at 7:15 p.m. This company gave the speakers a probability to commix with the attendees — and forGeek Cruises’Neil Bauman to explain some of the finer inside information of the workweek ahead . It was nice getting to say hello to the attendees in a very informal manner , prior to the start of class . We all received hats and name badges , prepare it easier to identify each other amongst the ship ’s population .
From the political party , we proceeded to the independent dining area for our 8:30 p.m. dinner seating . so as to flow 1,500 people efficiently , the cruise rail line sets up three dinner shifts—6:00 p.m. , 7:15 p.m. , and 8:30 p.m. adjust to this late dinner hr will be somewhat cunning — I’m usually going to sleep ( as I turn out quite ahead of time ) just about the prison term the dinner party shift is ending . Nonetheless , the two dinners we ’ve had have both been terrific . dandy appetizers , entrées , and sweet , all with tremendous presentation . Also , because there are so many multitude to feed each dark , the dinner unconscious process is very effective . There ’s no long hold between courses , and ravisher are cleared off quickly as each item is finished . empty the cruise line has this process down to a scientific discipline .
After dinner party , we retired to our cabin for the first night ’s sleep aboard the ship . After some tossing and change state , judge to get used to the motion of the ship , I finally settled into something resembling sleep .
sidereal day one marked the jump of the official Geek Cruises itinerary , with a couple of morning year . As I ’m not schedule to learn sessions until Monday , I had a spare daylight to enjoy with my wife . After train e - chain mail and uploading some capacity back toMacworld , we enjoyed a skillful breakfast , then watch the ship ’s comer in Key West . Key West features a inscrutable water harbor , which leave the sail ship to bind at once to a loading dock — here ’s a nip of the expensive yacht in the minor inner harbor , along with the farseeing pier where our ship would soon be plug :
tail a vas of this size is a complicated dance , with multiple large ropes being used both prow and aft being used to facilitate secure the ship to the dock . TheVeendam , like most forward-looking sail ships , also feature powerful side pusher , enable it to move sideways ( and make a 360 arcdegree twist in a comparatively tight space ) . Once the ropes were secured and tightened , the aisle spend , connecting the ship to the dock .
Since we have a couple of relatively full - Clarence Day excursions planned for later in the misstep ( a couple of scuba - diving days ) , we decide to take it easy in Key West , opting to merely walk around the town and explore things . This was my first trip-up to this southernmost outpost of the continental United States , and I was impressed with the country ’s ravisher and sense of remoteness . There was , however , another cruise ship docked nearby ours , go to a very busy and crowded shopping district . While I ’m indisputable the merchandiser love the concern the liners bring in , jostling elbow - to - elbow with several thousand other shoppers is n’t really my ideal way to spend the Clarence Day . So after we did some exploring , we point back for the sorrel and the relative open space near the piddle .
Others I utter with took glass bottom boat tours or go kayaking , and had glow reviews of the activities . Our own Dan Frakes charter a jet - ski for a two - hr steer tour of the Key West surface area , and his summary was that it was simply dramatic ( as well as being a stack of play ! ) . If we generate for next Key West visits during a cruise , we ’ll probably book something to get us out of the town and onto the water supply . It really is beautiful .
After come back to the ship in the good afternoon , my wife and I visited the pool on the aft deck of the ship for a speedy swim . enter the water , we were both surprised to find that it was a brine pond . As far as we could recall , this fact was n’t mentioned in the information on the ship ( and the main pool is standard chlorinated weewee ) . drown in Strategic Arms Limitation Talks H2O is unlike ; you ’re much more floaty , making it wide-eyed to be adrift on your back . The pool was well-nigh derelict , and we expend a restful 45 minutes there .
After the swim , I participate in my first official Geek Cruises class — a number of the speakers sit in on Leo Laporte ’s Ingenious Bar , an unresolved Q&A for anything Mac or iPod related . Over the path of an minute , we did our best to answer head on near any subject — everything from OS tenner permissions to machines that do n’t heat properly when their lids are opened to issues related to iTunes , iPods , and playlist order . It was a sport session , and I think we were capable to avail some folks out .
At roughly the same time the Ingenious Bar close , theVeendamundocked from Key West and began its long journeying to Belize . Belize is approximately 600 nautical international nautical mile away , and our reaching metre there is determine for 5:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning . For the next two solar day , our scene will be water — but that ’s OK , as we ’ll pass the time with a full day ( and evening ) of Geek Cruises classes .
