郵輪 Dress code 之我見／李明熙
坐盛世公主號郵輪去日本，原本行程是去鹿兒島和高知，但颱風橫掃日本，上船前被告知改去那霸和石垣島，我倆覺得反正是日本，而且郵輪泊岸只得半天時間，根本看不到甚麼，船上娛樂比岸上行程更重要，加上郵輪在台灣基隆出發，早已訂好機票，還是開開心心登船吧。
Check-in 時才知道，改行程每人可退回 100 美元，我們決定在船上把它飲掉。誰知翌日登岸那霸之前，船長廣播說另一個颱風瑪莉亞將至，石垣島的登陸也要取消，5 日的行程，變成有 4 日在船上，每人再多退 100 美元，這回真的可以大吃大喝。我們馬上訂枱，每晚都到要額外付款的高級餐廳，而船上要付費的飲品亦毫不猶豫去試。
貢茶是盛世公主號的其中一個賣點，但甜得要命，而且本身好咖啡多過好茶，還是大堂的 24 小時 International Cafe 咖啡好喝，每朝一杯最醒神。La Mer 是由米芝連大廚主理的一間法國餐廳，食物新穎精緻，但我天生地盤佬胃口，所以 Crown Grill 的大件牛扒更合我意。
坐郵輪好多時都有 Formal Night，要著正裝，上次坐 Cunard 的 Queen Mary 2，差不多 7 晚都要打呔。今次郵輪由台灣出發，亦有正裝之夜，而我深知華人對 Dress code 有自己的一套定義，所以我全身西裝，唯獨以皮波鞋代替皮鞋，都是黑皮鞋，不用分得那麼細啦！結果，我 overdress 了。那其他人穿咩呢？
目測男士們在日間和晚間最大分別是由涼鞋變波鞋；由 T-Shirt 變 Polo Shirt，只要不見腳趾，又有條領，就是斯文，但日夜都是穿短褲。其實未識 Kim 之前，自問都是這樣想。那女士呢？原來胸口有個襟針，加件披肩就是 formal，Kim 覺得不可思議。
不過第二晚我們馬上「入鄉隨俗」，短打上陣。其實只是食餐飯，舒服就好了。但若你的郵輪西方人多，勸你都是準備西裝，以免失儀。
When a cruise meets typhoons／Kimberlogic
Last year I had the opportunity to travel on the Queen Mary II on an eight-day voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. The trans-Atlantic voyage is very different from other cruise itineraries in that it doesn’t make any stops throughout the journey. Since I enjoyed the trip so much, I was curious to see what another kind of cruise would be like, one that actually makes stops at different places.
We decided to book a trip on the Majestic Princess ship that departed from Taipei, Taiwan and stopped in Kagoshima, Japan and Kochi, Japan before returning to Taipei. A five-night cruise with two full days at sea. When we arrived in Taipei to check in for the cruise we were notified that the itinerary had been changed due to a typhoon. The new itinerary would stop in Okinawa, Japan and Ishigaki, Japan instead.
Since the itinerary was changed, Princess Cruises gave us the option to cancel our trip or to stick with it and receive $100 USD on-board credit. Since the cruise was still going to Japan and the stops were places I had never been before, we decided to stick with it and got on board. Shortly after our departure another “super typhoon” was discovered along our route.
The captain decided to stop in Okinawa as planned, but then cruise down to the Southwest side of Taiwan and use the island as a barricade from the harsh weather. This meant only a few hours off of the boat and the remainder of the journey we would stay at sea. Princess Cruises again compensated another $100 USD on-board credit for the itinerary change which softened the blow of being stuck on a boat for four nights. So now with no hope of seeing anymore of Japan, we had to find a way to keep ourselves entertained.
The Majestic Princess ship has a lot of neat sport facilities. Their gym room is huge and the equipment is top-notch. There was even an outdoor fitness area at the stern of the ship. We joined a mini-golf putting tournament and played table tennis and basketball while we waited for the laser shooting to open. The laser shooting was a simulated target practice range which was quite accurate.
Each day there were organized games and activities in the main area of the ship, but we found these very boring. With such a drastic change in itinerary I would have thought they would add more things for people to do, but it seemed like no one had any ideas. We knew to stop looking for entertainment there when the best activity they could come up with was to guess which elevator would open first (yes, that was an actual activity on the daily itinerary!).
One of the most unique things we found on the ship was their Princess Live! game show room. A few times a day they would host audience interaction game shows and film them just like in a real studio. The games were fun and kept us entertained.
Besides activities, food is always good entertainment, and there was no shortage of this. There were so many food options available 24 hours a day. From the regular dinning rooms and buffet to a pizzeria and French restaurant, there was even a lobster bar by the outdoor pool.
Although we were really bummed about the itinerary change, no one can control the weather and we ended up still having a nice time. The facilities on board the Majestic Princess kept us amused, even though it was clear that the cruise director is in serious need of a job performance evaluation for her daily offer of activities. Since my second cruise experience did not call on multiple ports like I was hoping for, I think I am going to have to give cruising another try.
