By: Marcia Abramson
If you want to "almost" get away from it all, there is nothing like cruising the blue Mediterranean on a Renaissance Cruise ship. The "almost" now makes it possible for you to be in contact with the real world through the Internet on the ship which for a fee is available for the passengers to send and receive e-mail. My daughter, Jill Wasser, was my companion for part of my 15-day cruise. This was her first trip away from her family and it was comforting for her to stay in touch with them via the Internet. We shared a roomy state room with excellent closet and drawer storage space. I was delighted to find "real honest to goodness" hangers, not the pilfer-resistant kind with the hook permanently affixed to the rod. The decor is elegantly charming throughout the ship. No brassy ornamentation or crystal chandeliers were anywhere to be found, only soft lights and mahogany wood-paneled walls, with furnishings of the English Regency period. The owner's suites are truly luxurious and spacious with a separate dining and seating area, Jacuzzi bath tubs, a guest bathroom. As a matter of fact, there is a Lawrence couple who have made many sailings on the Renaissance ships and are now planning a 45-day cruise with reservations for one of the 10 owner's suites on the Renaissance R ships.
I have received numerous inquiries from Herald readers about the Renaissance Cruise Line since we do receive a good number of mailings with fabulous offers and discounts. I can understand their skepticism, but believe me, I did meet a few passengers who have made as many as eight trips on the Renaissance ships, finding new destinations for each sailing. They told me they take advantage of the good discounts and love the comfort, service, food and, above all, the destinations. In fact, a New Jersey couple we ran into at the ship's pizza stand had just returned from a cruise eight days prior to this sailing. They said, "We just could not refuse the unbelievable discounts offered and here we are." They laughingly continued, "We did not bother to unpack, just closed the suitcases caught the plane from Newark to Venice, and can honestly say that the pizza is as good as the ones in New Jersey and New York." I have to conclude that the advertising is legitimate from what I learned from the frequent cruisers.
There are people from just about every state in the Union as well as the British Isles. In the Italian Restaurant with its wonderful capaccio, garlic bread, focaccio and other Italian delicacies, I found stimulating dinner conversations with a retired radiologist from Kansas, and a retired nuclear medicine physician and their wives. Another evening in the Club restaurant I enjoyed chatting with a retired pathologist from Michigan, and a dentist from Illinois. All these people were repeaters, having made prior trips to various destinations, including Scotland, Sweden, Russia, Tangiers, Lisbon, Tahiti, and were now looking forward to the Italian, French, Spanish, Maltese, Croatian and the Corsican experience. I also learned from Renaissance Cruise Lines spokesman Brad Ball, "Surveys we conducted revealed that 42 percent of the passengers had made other sailings on the Renaissance ships and return because of the value for the dollar and the destinations we offer." Just about everybody I spoke to were two or three times dedicated Renaissance Cruisers. They preferred this size ship with fewer than 700 passengers, and did not find the mega-ships with more than 2,000 people their cup of tea. Jill and I did manage to try every restaurant and dining station on the ship. We like the Grill for the great appetizers and wonderful beef, veal and fish choices. Another restaurant was the very informal Panorama Buffet, which seemed to be the favorite of the "heavy" male eaters because they could go through four different salads, various tasty soups, at least four different entrees as well as a carving station with a selection of roasted meats. Desserts always consisted of a selection of extremely good cheeses and an assortment of luscious pastries. And if you were not satisfied, there was also an outdoor barbecue with hot dogs, hamburgers, kebabs and other delicious picnic foods. At four in the afternoon, a repast of finger sandwiches and sweets were available with an assortment of beverages and frozen yogurt at the pool, weather permitting.
