A Reluctant Cruiser Finds Paradise Close to Home : Author Fell for Floating Vacations During a Short Cruise to Catalina and Ensenada

I was strolling the deck of the Viking Serenade humming “The Love Boat” theme.

OK, wrong cruise line, but “The Love Boat” TV show was all I knew about cruising.

Friends had taken cruises and loved the experience. But I didn’t think a floating vacation was for me: I would feel at a loss at sea. I’d want to jump ship in the middle of the ocean. I’d eat so much they’d have to rock me off the boat.

So take a three- or four-day cruise, a friend suggested, to see if you like cruising.

I had put off even that notion for years until April, when I mentioned a short cruise to my father-in-law, Bryce, as a possible family trip. I was looking for a nudge, and Bryce, a three-cruise veteran, happily gave it.

So I called my travel agent and she was back to me in no time: “Have I got a deal for you!” she enthused.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line was running a “special,” and we could get the three-day cruise aboard the Viking Serenade to Catalina and Ensenada in a large room with a picture window on the top deck--all for half off the regular price of about $1,000 per person.

If the trip was going to be just three days, we might as well go close to top cabin. But despite the slick pictures of staterooms in the cruise-line brochures, I still had misgivings.

So it was with some surprise that I was humming merrily along. And we hadn’t even left port.

Day 1: Sail time was 7:45 p.m. from the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro on what turned out to be an unusually humid Friday night in mid-August, but we were allowed to board as of 1 p.m. The ship photographer was snapping pictures of all arriving passengers. That was OK. We didn’t have to buy the photos. I wasn’t going to spend a lot of money foolishly on this long weekend.

We hurried to check out our rooms. My husband, Chris, and I walked into the promised picture window--wall-to-wall carpeting in pastel pink with light blue dots, sitting area, two beds that combined to form a queen-size bed, large dressing table with mirror, private bath with shower, telephone, radio and television.

Bryce’s room was similarly furnished, only slightly smaller and more suitable for a single. Pastel blue dominated his cabin. Our steward, Lorenzo, had left buckets of ice in both rooms.

“You know,” I said to Chris as I bounced upon the firm bedding, “I could really get used to this!”

We stashed our luggage, freshened up and headed for the Windjammer Cafe at the ship’s stern for what was billed as an “embarkation snack”: roast beef, carved to order; pasta with meat or marinara sauce; crispy fish; Polish sausage on a bun; salad bar, an array of cookies and cakes.

Dinner was going to be interesting.

Now to check out the 1,514-passenger ship: two big nightclubs, gym equipment, beauty parlor, sauna, massage, casino, pool, sunny lounge decks, shady lounge decks, two dining rooms, three cocktail lounges, including one with a panoramic view 10 stories above water.

Back in our room, we found that the Viking Serenade’s daily schedule of events listed the following: a “Big Bucks Bingorama”; the welcome-aboard spectacular--”Cruising Through the ‘90s” at 9 and 10:45 p.m. in the Hello Dolly Lounge; opening of the ship’s casino at 8:45 p.m. (until 3 a.m.); opening of the duty-free gift shops at the same time (until midnight); Late Night Comedy at midnight in the Bali Ha’i Lounge; dance music, intermittently, from 5:30 p.m. till 1:30 a.m. in the Bali Ha’i Lounge, and a midnight buffet in the Magic Flute Dining Room. And that was just for Friday.

The dinner that night was Italian. Passing up first seating at 6 p.m., we took the second seating at 8:30 p.m. in the Magic Flute Dining Room. We were assigned to Table 11, which seated 10, but we had only 9 (my father-in-law being the odd person). The busboys were dressed as gondoliers, and Nelson, our waiter from Honduras, presented a choice of four appetizers; two soups; two salads; five entrees, including breast of capon and scampi; several cheeses, and four desserts.

By the time our coffee and apricot ricotta pie arrived, we were getting to know our tablemates: a couple from Phoenix celebrating their 30th anniversary, another from Simi Valley and two women in their late teens from the San Fernando Valley.

With the exception of Bryce and the two young women, we were first-time cruisers--who had to admit that so far the trip had far exceeded our expectations. By the time the waiters and busboys finished regaling us with “O Sole Mio,” Table 11 was looking forward to getting together the next night.

(We were inside when the ship set sail--didn’t even know it had--and were cruising down the Orange County coast during dinner.)

Outside the casino, the 5-by-7 welcome-aboard photos bearing the ship name at the bottom had been posted in the ship’s photo gallery. Hmmm, ours weren’t too bad. Only $6. Wouldn’t hurt to buy one.

After a few pulls at the quarter slot machines in the Casino Royale, my husband and I ended the night with a stroll on deck. The moon had just passed its fullness and cast a romantic shimmer in the ship’s wake.

Lorenzo had been back to our cabin and again replaced the towels, converted the two beds into a queen and crowned our pillows with chocolates.

“You know, this isn’t too shabby,” Chris said as the waves rocked us toward one of the most pleasant sleeps ever.

“Not a bad way to live,” I said.

Day 2: After a not-too-early morning shore excursion on Catalina, we followed lunch with an afternoon nap, but were up on top deck by the pool at 5 p.m. to watch the ship steam out of Avalon Harbor for Ensenada.

When we returned to our cabin to dress for dinner, Lorenzo had again changed the bed linens, the towels and left us a deck of playing cards at the foot of the bed.

Saturday night was dress-up time; the dinner theme, French. The ship photographer worked his way through the dining room snapping the parties at each table, while Nelson entertained us with his napkin-folding skills. After escargot, lobster tail, wine and cherries jubilee, we were so looking forward to the next dinner that we asked Nelson the theme.

“American,” he said.

American? Was American the way to end our cruise? What could be on the menu? Meat loaf and mashed potatoes? Franks and beans?

“McDonald’s” Nelson joked.

For a few sad seconds we realized that the end was approaching, and we were just getting revved up.

But enough of that! There was another whole day ahead and the night was still young.

We had after-dinner drinks with Bryce, during which we challenged him to a game of “Scategories,” which we’d brought along. Bryce and I ended up tied and, still deadlocked after the third playoff, we decided to settle that game on land. It was after midnight, and early riser Bryce was past his bedtime; Chris and I were off to the casino again, where we lost what little we’d won the previous night, and then some. We capped off the night with another promenade around the ship.

Day 3: As the Viking Serenade anchored in Ensenada about 8 a.m., we overslept and missed our regular breakfast. But not to fear, there was a late risers’ buffet until 10:30 in the Windjammer Cafe.

Bryce came along just for company as we ate our eggs and bacon. He had already eaten. Had we gotten up on time for our 8:45 a.m. seating, he said, we could have had smoked Nova Scotia salmon.

As our trio left ship for downtown Ensenada, we sighted our dinner pictures from the night before. We looked even snazzier than we’d thought at the time. Bought those.

Unfortunately, the hot misery we thought we left in Los Angeles followed us to Mexico. We sweltered so much in every shop that it was impossible to make a reasonable decision--much less bargain intelligently. We took our meager purchases of two inlaid-shell bracelets and two mother-of-pearl pins, four engraved glass boxes and one shirt and fled for the ship’s comfort.

After a lunch of sole stuffed with cheese, shrimp, crab and vegetables, we dalliedat the table, having a good time with Nelson and his jokes. Jean from Simi Valley asked Nelson the secret of his diligent service and even temperament.

“It’s my job to make people have a good time,” he said. “Some people look at me at first and don’t like me,” he explained, “but when I get through with them, they like me.”

The fleeting melancholy had returned. It would soon be time to go home.

I cruised the ship taking interior pictures for my memoirs, ending up in the gift shop, where I bought a golf shirt with the cruise line emblem for my brother-in-law’s upcoming birthday. Then there was a refrigerator magnet, a Royal Caribbean night shirt and other stuff. Some things were on sale. A few souvenirs wouldn’t hurt.

“I hate to repeat myself,” I told Chris later, “but I am truly enjoying myself.”

“I wouldn’t mind a few more days of this myself,” he confessed.

The dining room was festooned with the Stars and Stripes, and little flags adorned our red and blue napkins. Nelson and company wore straw hats and red vests.

Our prime rib and pan-fried catfish dinners lived up to the standards of previous meals. The serving staff, who, by birth or derivation represented 21 nations, sang “America the Beautiful.” More than a few of them glanced slyly at lyrics pasted in the tops of their hats.

As dessert ended, the folks at Table 11 posed with each other and with Nelson and bade reluctant goodnights, though we’d see each other once more at breakfast.

After dinner, Chris and I checked out the pictures of the three of us disembarking at Ensenada. We didn’t look half-bad in those, either. Bought ‘em.

I said a silent goodby to the Viking Serenade as we pulled out of the parking lot in San Pedro. The ship had done right by us. So we lost a few bucks in its casino. But I didn’t gain even a pound.

A cruise to Alaska, Hawaii or the Panama Canal is on next year’s travel agenda. But should the hankering for the good life grab us before then, the short cruise is freeway-close.

GUIDEBOOK

Quick Cruise

Departures: Royal Caribbean’s Viking Serenade (1,514 passengers) and Norwegian’s Southward (720 passengers) both offer 3- and 4-day cruises out of San Pedro, booked through travel agents only. Three-day cruises run Friday through Monday and stop at Catalina and Ensenada; 4-day cruises start Monday and add San Diego to the itinerary.

Prices: Peak-season (June through September) published prices for the 3-day Viking Serenade cruise range from $575 per person for an inside stateroom on the lower decks to $1,675 per person for the Royal Suite. The Southward’s published price range for three days and similar accommodations runs $525-$1,015. Four-day prices for both ships are slightly higher. Cruise-only passengers, who don’t need air connections to port, should deduct $150 from the price.

Deals: Reduced-price specials may go on all year, depending on the season and other cruise-line discounts. Travel agents often will know of deals not publicized. Specials are sometimes one-half or more off if a cruise is not selling well.

For more information: Call Royal Caribbean at (800) 327-6700 or Norwegian at (800) 323-1308 for brochures and cruise information.