Tuesday - April 12, 2005

Italy: A View from the Bridge

As part of a World Cruise Charity Fair that was held on board the ship, Mike and I made a bid for a chance to have champagne under the starts and a tour of the bridge. We didn't bid enough to win the tour outright, but when the Captain saw what people were willing to bid, he wisely accepted the top 6 bids, which included ours.

The Captain's secretary called our cabin to book a night that would be agreeable to us to come up to the bridge at 11:00 pm. We had asked for and received a private tour, so the night we left Naples we dutifully trooped up the stairs to the bridge, guided by one of the navigators - which made perfect sense to me. Walking into the bridge at that time of night was like walking into a cave. It seemed as though it was pitch black. But once our eyes adjusted to the lack of light, we were able to see by the glow of the instrument panels. And there waiting for us was a nice bottle of champagne and the two officers on duty.

We had a great time! We were able to see the various GPS systems, the radar screens, the navigation maps, the panels that control the watertight doors, etc., etc. Richard and Adam, the officers who gave us the grand tour, were very willing to answer all our questions and spent a good hour showing us around. We even got to go outside on the bridge wings, where the captain stands as we enter and leave ports. From there you can really see all down the side of the ship. It seemed very romantic to be standing there under the stars, sipping our champagne. It was definitely a highlight of the trip for us and something we'll remember for a long time.

(It would have been more romantic if the photo included me and Mike, but I thought it looked more authentic to have an officer in the picture. If you look carefully, you can see the navigation map on the desk that Adam was using to plot our route. Even with all their most up-to-date, high-tech equipment, they still use a good old paper map! And Mike really isn't a two-fisted drinker; he's just holding my glass for me.)