FAQs about the cruise

I have put together a bunch of questions, that I had before I took the cruise. The questions are meant for people who think like me, so let me know if you want a particular question answered and I will try my best. You can get the answers to some of these questions on the cruise's website too.

Q: How expensive is it to take a cruise ?

A: Well, it depends on a lot of factors. Three important ones are length of the cruise, time of the year and quality of your room. The cruises are very expensive between Christmas and New Years. The prices are almost double the usual costs. We ended up taking a 3-day cruise to Bahamas. It started on the 25th and ended on the 28th, which is right at the peak season. We took the rooms with a balcony view which are the second most expensive rooms on the cruise. This cost us roughly 500$ a head, for the three days. The cheapest rooms would have cost us about 200$ a head and the most expensive ones are about 1000$ a head, for the three days.

Q: What are the different kinds of cruises ?

A: We took a freestyle cruise. Concisely put. this means that there are no rules on what to wear or how to behave :) Some cruises have more formal dinners where your seating is decided for you. The food is probably better and the service would be more formal. On our cruise, there was free seating, which meant you sat wherever you wished and wore whatever you chose. The entertainment on the cruise was also more informal. I would think this is one of the cheaper cruises. There are more formal cruises, that would also charge you more. Then there are specialty cruises, like the Disney cruises which are much more expensive, but surely have a better experience. If you are a first timer, and are not sure on which one to take, I recommend the Norwegian Cruise Line as it was good for the money. There are some Desi cruises, which are more tuned for people from the sub-continent. I think these are called masalacruises. You get lots of Indian food on these cruises and the entertainment shows are also by Indian performers. If you are planning to take parents with you, this is probably a much better option. Of course, these are more expensive and I dont know too many other details on them.

Q: What does your room cost include ?

A: That is a very good question, the answer to which I found out on the cruise. I think this answer varies from cruise to cruise. For the cruise that we took, the room cost included free food (breakfast, lunch and dinner) from some restaurants. It also included some free entertainment shows on the cruise. It of course included the room and its maintenance. The room had a TV and an attached bathroom. The cruise provided towels, bathroom accessories (soaps, shampoos etc), and sheets and beach towels, pretty much like a regular hotel in the US.

Q: What do you mean food from some restaurants is free ?

A: Well, there were some restaurants on this cruise that charged a cover of around 10$ to enter the restaurant. We had about 10 restaurants on the cruise. 3 of them had no such charge. You had free unlimited food on these three restaurants. One of these 3 restaurants was a buffet too. It was open from 6 in the morning till 12:00 in the night! The other two had more formal seating and ordering from the menu. However, the food was free once again. You can choose to leave a tip if you want. If you are cheap like me, go to the buffet. The food was better, and you did not have to leave a tip :)

Q: I am vegetarian/vegan/diabetic. Can I get something to eat other than salads ?

A: Again, this depends from cruise to cruise. If you can not live without Indian food, please do the masalacruises. Our cruise had at least one Indian dish at every meal. Even then, I cannot recommend this to anyone who survive only on Indian food. I saw a lot of Indian parents on this trip and my sympathies are with them. They would have certainly had something to eat, but they would not have enjoyed it as much. The buffet had quite a few vegetarian and vegan food items. There was the salad bar, which had fruits in addition to regular salad items. Then there was a vegetable stir fry, a veggie burger with condiments, different kinds of breads and cheeses, some form of fried potatoes, one rice based Indian dish, one Indian curry, some pastries and a lot of desserts. The desserts were mostly mousse based and if you are sweet-toothed like me you would not care for them. There was a crepe station and a chocolate fondue place too. So yeah, a lot of reliable food but nothing mind-blowing as such. The breakfast had omelets, pancakes, bagels, french toast, cut fruits, waffles pretty much the usual stuff. One thing I have to mention is that the service was awesome. I know its a buffet and a lot of cheap people like me show up. However, the crew greeted everyone nicely. There were at least 15-20 people hanging around the area, happy to answer questions. The people behind the buffet tables answered questions about the food very well, pointing out the vegetarian and vegan dishes. They also had sugar free desserts and vegan desserts.

Q: What are these free activities on the cruise ?

A: There is a ton of free stuff to do on the cruise. You can identify what is free by asking the crew members, who are ubiquitous! The top most floor on the cruise is an open deck. It had a basketball/volleyball court, two pools, two big hot tubs, bunch of ping pong tables, some golf cages, a lot of beach chairs to just sit and relax and a dance floor. The other floors have a gym, a jogging track, a place to play Wii, an art gallery, a play room for the kids and a two-storeyed theater that showed some free shows. I know it does not sound like much, but between all of these there was not a single minute that we got bored. The other activities where you can pay if you like are the casino, a video arcade, a gift shop,a spa, and some paid shows.

Q: Will I get sea-sick on the cruise ?

A: The short answer is no, you won't. This is a huge ship. It is about 11 floors tall and more wider than that. It rocks a bit in the sea but it is largely stable. You can notice the motion of the ship, but it is not enough to make you sick. If you are in doubt, try a 3-day cruise like us. If you want to minimize the motion of the ship, stick to the center of the ship. If your room is closer to the middle of the ship, you dont feel much of the motion. Again, the motion you feel is much lesser compared to what you feel in an airplane or a train. However, it is rhythmic and I can see that causing some uneasiness to people.

Q: Does the atmosphere feel stale in the cruise ? I mean you are at sea, and the room probably gets moist.

A: Actually, the cruise did a wonderful job of maintaining the humidity levels. The rooms had air-conditioning and I bet they had a dehumidifier too. The weather was humid but nothing that was too severe, at least this time of the year. The rooms felt fresh and clean and I could not smell anything stale, during my stay. This was one thing I was not sure about, but I can say with good confidence that you would not feel uncomfortable with the humidity.

Q: You went in December ? Wasn't it cold at sea ? Could you even go outdoors ?

A: Ladies and Gentlemen, when you are at sea, you have the best weather! At 1200 in the night, you might feel a slight chill that warrants a full sleeve clothing. But other times, you can walk around in shorts and flip-flops and not feel a thing! The weather was perfect. It was more than perfect. It was neither hot nor too cold. I can completely see why this is considered the peak season. We were on the top most deck of the ship, in open weather for most of the time, and did not get cold at all.

Q: Do you have to get a visa to go to the Bahamas, or any other island ? Does the cruise take care of this ?

A: Yes, you do need a visa to go to the Bahamas, or to any other island outside US. The cruise does not automatically take care of this. You are expected to apply for your visa and be ready before you board the ship. Each destination has its own procedures for the visa. The Bahamas visa requirements are pretty low. It cost us 55$ a head. We got our visa within4 weeks of applying. You need to have your cruise booked before you can apply for the visa which is a bit strange. However, the odds of getting rejected for the visa are low.

Q: What do you do when you get to the island ? Do the cruise people guide you on where to go and what to do ? Can I do my own thing and not stick with the cruise people ?

A: You can do whatever you want when you get to the island. The cruise offers some packages for activities on the islands, but you are under no obligation to take those. The only advantage of taking packages through the cruise is that you are guaranteed to finish your activity and return to your cruise on time. If you take an activity on your own on the island, make sure you finish it on time to return to your cruise before it leaves for the next destination in the evening. You can also choose to not leave the cruise ship. I cant see why you would like to do that, but you can choose to stay on the ship and laze around in your room, just watching TV, or go to the buffet, or play at the casino. If you get down to the island, you can choose to just walk around there and explore the city on your own. You can also just sit at the beach and play in the water. Again, nothing set in stone.

Q: What does it cost for these activities at the island ? What are my options ?

A: Again, speaking for this trip to Bahamas, there are a lot of water-related activities. You can do parasailing, snorkeling, underwater adventures, swimming with sharks, swimming with dolphins, boat tours, cab rides of the city, and other touristy things. They can cost anywhere from 30$ to 200$ depending on the kind of activity. We did parasailing for 80$ and an underwater sub-adventure for 130$. I strongly recommend the under-water sub adventure. If you are like me, you will remember this experience for a long long time!

Q: I have kids/parents with me. Should I take them with me, on the cruise ? Isn't the cruise mostly adult themed ?

A: I saw lots of desi parents and desi kids on the cruise. There are some activities on the cruise that are adult themed. But, you are warned in advance about these, and there are too few of them, for you to worry. You can have a lot of fun, with the family-themed entertainment as well. I think desi parents had a lot of fun, just taking in the atmosphere.

A trip full of firsts

Uma and I just returned from our vacation. We went to Florida and the Bahamas, it was the most exotic vacation we have had so far. I have typically not enjoyed two popular activities - swimming or anything to do with water, and dancing. On this vacation I did both of these, and enjoyed the water activities.

The vacation had a lot of firsts for me. These are the ones that I can share with family audiences :)

1. The first time I opened my eyes under water. This happened at the coast of Bahamas. Clear waters, also saw some fish. The salt water does sting a bit, and it was far too blurry for me, but it was a lot of fun!

2. Floated on water! This is a big achievement for me. I have tried this a couple of times and failed miserably. This time I got some tips from Uma and was able to successfully float on my back. I got greedy and attempted the backstroke, but failed :)

3. 30 minutes under water with an oxygen tank. The underwater sub adventure gave me a chance to do this. I hope to post a video of this soon and boast about it for a long time.

4. Parasailing: Frankly, it was a little too hyped for me. However, I can see why this is popular and enjoyed it a bit. The views are spectacular and it makes for some great pictures. I regret not having taken a camera with me when I was doing this. I strongly recommend that you take a handheld camera with you, if you do this.

5. Going on a cruise: It was just a 2 day cruise to Bahamas and back. I loved every minute of it. I was a little bit skeptical of how much I would be able to enjoy myself, and if the activities would be in sync with my energy levels. However, there is a little bit for people of all energy levels on this cruise. I had a whole bunch of firsts on this cruise, sadly not all of which can be mentioned on this blog!

6. Eat 4 dinners in a single evening: Yes, crazy as it sounds, I did it. There's an unlimited buffet on the cruise. The unlimited means that you can leave and come back as many times as you want. There was food in some form or the other till 1130 in the night. And no, I did not just have dessert in one of these 4 dinners. Starting at 6:30 pm, I came back 3 other times and had something or the other from the main course!

New Year's resolutions

I always try to make resolutions for the New Year. I like the idea of bringing some changes to my lifestyle and I think the resolutions are a good way of enforcing that. This year I wanted to make 3 resolutions which are not related to each other. I have so far come up with two.

1. Read at least one new book a month.

2. Cook at least one new dish a month.

I will try and post about what I cooked, or what I read each month. That way I can try and keep track of my resolutions. And speaking of resolutions, this is what I had resolved to do in the past years

1. 2006 - My resolution was to finish everything I ordered to eat, at a restaurant. Of course, buffets were exempt from this. Getting left-overs was not an option. This turned out to be a fun resolution. For the first half of the month, I ended up stuffing myself so badly. There was one particular trying moment at a Chinese restaurant which was close to Grand Junction, Colorado. This was on my trip from Denver to Salt Lake City, Utah with a couple of my office colleagues. We stopped by for dinner and I ordered Moo-Shu vegetables. Given the price, I expected something small. I was not prepared for the one entree serves three kind of dish! I immediately realized what I had to do. I had to eat before my body sent out feedback saying I was full. I am glad to report I kept my resolution that year!

2. 2007 - Do not eat chocolates unless someone offers them to you. I kept up with this for a good amount of time. I initially thought I will plainly stop eating chocolates or candy of any form. Then I realized there are quite a few occasions when people would offer my candy, and I did not want to draw unnecessary attention. The funny thing about chocolates is that I love them. However, three months in to this resolution, I had no craving for candy. Ofcourse, I am back to devouring chocolates now. Esp, white chocolates!

3. 2008 - Run a mile a day. I like to keep up with my running habits. I started running in Colorado in 2004. After slowly having picked up some stamina, I lost it completely in 2007. I came up with this resolution to get back to enjoying running. I maintained a blog of my running thoughts. I used to run at least twice a week and I ran at least 3.5 miles each time. Towards the third quarter of that year, I started developing cramps in my leg and could not continue this. I thought that doing the elliptical was a good alternative. I matched the number of calories, and the intensity of the workout on the elliptical for a while. I think I accumulated around 310 miles that year. We were building a house in the later half of the year, and I had to compromise with all the work that was going on for that.

4. 2009 - Try at least one new, exotic restaurant a month. I think this was my weakest year in terms of resolutions. I did a poor job of keeping up with this one. Sadly, this was one resolution that my wife was looking forward to. I hope to make it up this year, with my resolution to cook at least one new dish a month. We did try a few exotic restaurants throughout this year, just did not keep track of doing one a month. I think our favorite new restaurant this year was Stir Crazy - a Chinese/Mongolian place where you can pick your veggies and sauces and the cook stir fries them for you.

How the Earth was made

I volunteer for a program called Book Buddies. Every week, I spend an hour with two kids helping them to read books. This includes helping them with pronunciation and comprehension. Since these are kids from the second grade, it is really a fun thing to do and the hour usually flies by very quickly. Today was a special day, since it was our last meeting for this year. The co-ordinators for the program gave the volunteers some gifts (a card, a picture of the two kids, a pencil, candy and a calendar). What's better, they had the kids hand out the gifts to the volunteers.

Typically every week, I help the kids read two books, learn some new words and play a word-game in 30 minutes. Today, one of the kids got to read a book in which a baby bear asks its mother for a bed time story. After we were done reading the book, I got talking with the kid about the story. Here's what happened.

"So, do you like to listen to a story when you go to sleep ?"

"Yes"

"Who reads to you at night ?"

"My Dad"

"Oh really ? Thats nice. What does he read to you ?"

"I forgot its name, but he read to me about how the Earth was made."

"Oh wow! So tell me, how was the Earth made ?"

"Well, there were these boy and girl called Adam and Eve. There was a poisonous snake. They had two kids and the two kids died..."

"..."

To put the media in its place

I came across this rather video of Ram Jethmalani, being interviewed by Sagarika Ghose from NDTV . Now if you are like me, and are not well-versed with popular and notorious personalities, you might not have heard about Ram Jethmalani. This guy is a criminal lawyer, who is well known for taking up famous cases (quite notably among them - Harshad Mehta). This particular video is about the Jessica Lal murder case. To put it in context, Jessica Lal, an upcoming model, who was found murdered at a bar, in 1999. The chief suspect was Manu Sharma, the son of a high-profile politician from the Indian National Congress. Ram Jethmalani took up Manu Sharma's case inspite of popular public and media opinions that Manu Sharma was guilty. Here, he states his case as to why he took it up.

A lot of things to be noted about the whole manner in which this murder has been tried in the court. Initially, the court did a lousy job of analyzing the evidence. It was only due to public and media intervention, that the case was reopened, and evaluated carefully. That being said, where does the job of the media end ? Is creating prejudice something the press should do ? Where do we get unbiased jury members from ? Should the press try to bias the defending lawyer as well ? The "popular opinion" about Indian judicial system and the Law and Order system may not be good. However, the solution is not to subject people to public trials, media scrutiny, and completely lose faith in the judicial system. Have faith in the system, and if it fails you, then try to appeal within its limits! I don't think the solution is for everyone to turn vigilantes and add to the existing law and order issue.

My morning routine

I have decided to pass on some knowledge. Something that everyone can benefit from - my morning routine. Every morning, I hope to be at my office by a modest 8:00 a.m. As you can see, I dont ask of much of myself. I try to usually go to bed by 11:00 pm, trying to give myself at least 8 hours of sleep. However, I end up sleeping a little bit late every day. Some times as late as 12 pm. So, now as I try to maximize my sleeping time, while meeting my modest goal of being at work by 8 a.m., I have set myself a very nice optimization problem. How do you optimize your early morning routine, without giving up on the important aspects of it ? Before, you jump ahead of me and assume that I arrive at work shabbily, skipping breakfast, or not having brushed my teeth, let me assure you that this is not the case. Every morning, I brush my teeth, give myself a shave, take a good bath, put on a clean pair of clothes (and these days a sweater), make myself a protein shake and drink it, leave a glass of water for my wife, warm up my car for 5 mins (since its winter) and wear my shoes before I leave.

The most important part of my optimized daily routine, is parallel-processing. Just because I have a lot of things to do, it does not mean I have to do them serially. Lets knock of the easiest thing which everyone has seen in a movie or two. Brushing your teeth while taking bath, or while picking your clothes for the day. Piece of cake. I still have not practiced shaving while doing some thing else as I am scared of cutting myself. Maybe with a electric shaver some day ? After I get ready and step out of my bedroom, my big tasks are to have a protein shake, pick up my keys, cell phone and wallet, wear my shoes and warm up my car. So, I first pick my keys and start my car. So it warms up while I do my other stuff. I prepare my protein shake and proceed to grab my wallet and cell phone. Now an important optimization step. Putting on my socks and shoes. I put on the first sock on my left leg, and while I am putting the sock on my right leg, I slip my left leg in to the shoe. Voila! knocked off 10 secs right there! Next, I slip on my other shoe. But, I do not tie my shoe-lace right away. That my dear friends, can wait. I get in to my now warm car, and begin to drive. I have learnt that my drive will typically involve at least two traffic lights. So instead of twiddling my thumbs while waiting at the traffic light, I tie my show laces at the traffic lights. Cha-Ching! A good 30 seconds in your pocket! Want to save more time, wear your sweater while waiting at the traffic light. 10 more seconds! A little more time ? Dont wear your socks or shoes till you get in the car. Put them in a cover in the passenger seat beside you and wear them at the traffic lights. Dont make the mistake of leaving the shoes at your feet without wearing them. It can be a real hazard, as the shoes can come in the way of your gas pedal or brake pedal. So, you see, I care about my safety and the safety of others too!

Do you have some tips to save more time in your morning routine ?? Let me hear them.

My most humiliating moment

It was the summer of late 1980s or early 1990s. I was probably around 10 yrs old. We lived in an apartment complex which was pretty close to our school. In fact my parents moved to that area just because it was pretty close to our school. After some days, we got introduced to kids in the neighborhood and we used to meet regularly to play cricket or hide-and-seek or other such games. One such kid we got introduced to was Seenu. Seenu was an instant star in the group. Everybody wanted to be on his side, in a team. It was because he was a loud guy. He didn't hesitate in speaking out against anything, and he was usually witty in his comments. But one other thing that he was known for, was instigating troubles. He had this habit of trying to create drama by ratting people out, or by plain creating rumors. But the main too pests in the story are two guys whom I will call Karthik and Nimeesh. Because thats what their names really are. I got introduced to these guys through my brother as they were closer to his age than mine. They were the typical guys who thought they were too cool to hang out with kids who are younger to them. Karthik was a typical south-indian looking guy - dark toned, vibhoodi (sacred ash) on his forehead, lanky and fairly tall for his age. Nimeesh was also a lanky guy, unkempt hair, fair skinned and had two large front tooth. The reason I mention how they look is that I hope they stumble upon my blog some time and realize without any doubt that it is them that I am talking about! Karthik and Nimeesh were the biggest snobs in the complex, IMHO. Of course, my view is tainted by the fact that I hate them and I wish the worst for each of them. That apart, they always had a fake english accent - Karthik's was much worse than Nimeesh's. They always seemed to look down upon the thing that regular kids did - playing in the sun, getting dirty etc. The only times I interacted with them was when I tagged along with my brother and they did their best to try and talk to him without trying to involve/acknowledge my presence.

Anyway, now that the characters have been set, here's what happened (with all due respect to Adrian Monk, I am not solving a mystery here). On one sunny afternoon, I went out to the quadrangle in the complex, hoping to meet some kids and play something. I went on my own for some reason, and happened to find Seenu there. I went to his house and we walked up to the terrace of a building. It just so happened that Karthik was on the terrace of another building, which was right across the building we were at. Seenu got talking with Karthik and at one point, got him to say something which appeared like Karthik was cussing at me. Now, for some reason, I was mature enough to see what Seenu was doing. He was trying to create some drama on this boring day. I didnt bite on it, even when Seenu tried to rile me, about the cuss words. I just shrugged it off and said "It does not matter" or something to that effect. What I discounted, was Seenu's ability to make the most out of nothing. He turned to Karthik, who clearly could not hear what I said, and shouted out to him "Oh! This guy thinks you dont matter. He thinks you are a nobody!" or something to that effect. Before I could say anything, Karthik started off as a possessed guy, and began swearing at me. He took off from the terrace saying he would come to where I was, and "settle the issue like a man". I was still thinking this was going to be some kind of a joke, so I just waited there. Mostly, my ego was making me stay there, as I did not want to chicken out and run away in case there was going to be a fight. Once Karthik got there, he held my hands behind my back with one hand, and started swearing more at me. You have to know, that I was a much lankier guy, not to mention smaller. I was easily over powered. But the most important thing was I lacked the will to fight. Having been brought up lot more decently, than Karthik, at no point was I thinking of hurting this guy or saying something back. I just tried to wiggle myself out of the situation and walk away. Before I could do that, Nimeesh showed up on the terrace of the building opposite us. He laughed at the situation and pulled out a catapult that he had made. He asked Karthik to hold me steady so that he could do some "target practice". So as I was held helplessly by Karthik, Nimeesh continued to fling paper clips, or small stones or whatever he could launch with his catapult. It was the worst I had ever felt in my life, to date. After a while, Karthik let me go as I guess some sense dawned upon his pea-sized brain eventually. His dad and my dad knew each other, and if this issue had escalated, he would have had to face some heat. I, of course, did not tell my parents about this for a lot of reasons.

It would have been fantastic to have an epilogue for this story - If I somehow found out that Karthik was begging at the railway stations or works at a Sulabh Complex (public urinals in India) and Nimeesh was cleaning the floors of trains, or picking up dung from the railway tracks, for a living. Unfortunately, I dont have the energy to go looking out for two a-holes and what they are currently up to. For all that I know, they are probably well off. At least Nimeesh looked like his parents were well off. I do wish the very worst in life for both of them though.