December 15, 2015:
I thought I'd write a brief note about our itinerary and ship. We are on the beautiful Insignia of Oceania cruise line, built in 1998 and refurbished in 2014. She is about 590 feet in length, her beam is 83.5 feet and maximum draught is 19.5 feet. She carries stabilizers and cruises at 18 knots. Since she is a small ship she can go up rivers and into ports that the larger ships cannot.
There are 9 full decks and the 10 is a lovely place to get a 360 degree view of the world. She can carry 684 people with an international staff of 400. There are five restaurants: some elegant, some casual, and no formal nights so I don't have to pack my tiara.
There is evening entertainment, a few bars and a casino,which won't get our $ since David the engineer knows the odds! Room service is offered for all meals which we might take advantage of some evenings after returning from excursions tired and sunscreen grubby.
There is a coffee bar (Yay!) and afternoon tea, a library, pools, gym, spa, beauty shop, clinic with medical staff, and small walking track on the 10 deck with about 13 laps to a mile!
We have a 200 sq. ft cabin with veranda on the 7th deck right in the ship's middle to defeat mal de mer! Several people have remarked on being in 200 sq ft with their spouse for 6 months but we vow to remain married AND friends, and have I mentioned.... the pool, the library and the walking track?
We head for the Epic Hotel in Miami on Jan 3 and will take the opportunity to walk around, catch the trolley, and ride the metromover since it has been years since we've seen the city of Miami. The next morning staff takes us to the ship to start our great adventure--and to celebrate David's birthday!
For those asking about our itinerary, here it is! It is too long to list, but you can keep track of us by clicking away. We're not promising an entry every day, but we'll post often........cynthia
https://www.oceaniacruises.com/180-day-world-cruises/miami-to-miami-INS160104G/
2 comments:
Thanks, Cynthia ... I really like the photo Dave took of Insignia at Civitavecchia ... a different angle than the usual ones of the pool area. We will be in one of the aft-facing cabins deck 6 ... same one we were on for the Nautica cruise this fall, so we know what we're getting ourselves into space-wise for six months at sea ;-) The saving grace for us is that we're used to living in the close quarters of a motorhome day in day out, so I expect our marriage will survive six months at sea ;-)) We love small ships, but the downside is the number of laps it takes to put in a couple of miles for exercise. Of course, with Oceania's focus on port-intensive itineraries, it's easier to get our exercise exploring ashore and use the sea days for downtime.
hi Erin!
we purchased a "fit bit one" a few weeks ago for each of us and having been using it daily. We walk everyday and this one tells us how many steps,miles,stairs, & calories burned! Can't wait to use it on this trip...maybe I can have 2 desserts!
looking forward to meeting you! c
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