We are on the big DFDS ferry, heading from Oslo down to Copenhagen. We have a really small cabin, down near the bottom floor, kind of in the middle. You know the “steerage” passengers who all die, in the movie “Titanic?”
That is us.
Steerage.
Way down, down below decks, on level five. Or, looking at it from the “glass half filled - half empty? argument, we are way way up above the floor of the boat, on level five.
I suppose if we sink and flip, like on the Poseidon Adventure, we will be glad we only have to fight our way up five floors to be rescued. Those poor losers in the thousand-euro, first class cabins on top… they will never make it.
Survival of the fittest, not the richest: that’s me.
We have bunk beds on one wall, a couple hooks on another, and a very small desk with chair. The bathroom is like one of those RV type bathrooms, where the shower is the bathroom. But at least we have a shower and toilet and sink. I would guess the whole set-up is about 64 square feet.
I cannot reach out and touch wall-to-wall. My arms are about two feet short.
It is not “cute” like you think a ship would be. But it is efficient. Practical even.
Sort of like an RV I suppose, but with just the one room. So we are essentially camping on the high seas for a night.
This is a good idea, really. Our simple room in Oslo was a deal at 1699NK, which is about $215 USD. Our cabin on the ship is only €98, which is about $110 USD. So we are getting passage to our next stop, plus a room and shower for the night, at a “bargain” price.
And, it is an adventure, at least for me.
It is, or was, all very interesting to me at first. I have never traveled on a ship before, except for the ferry crossings in Croatia, Greece, and Turkey, and so I thought it would be great fun to explore the ship.
I was surprised how fast that went.
The exploring part.
I mean, the ship looks huge, like it would take hours to explore it, but really, we wandered around and saw it all in about an hour, and that’s only because we went slow. Eleven floors, front to back. Or is it “stern to port?” Bow to aft? Whatever…
We had to load up and check onto the ship about an hour before we were to leave. So we explored the entire ship before we even left port.
There are the couple totally outrageously priced restaurants and bars. I thought the prices were high in Oslo… how about $15 for a sip of wine in a plastic cup? Or $8 for a can of Heinekin?
We saw the pool, and there were actually a couple people in it. Brrrr. At home, Gail won’t go in the pool unless it is about 100 degrees out; no way is she going swimming here.
The duty free store… shopping. Oh boy. And all stuff we don’t need, like skipper hats and nautical themed stuff to ship home.
The casino… another way to throw money overboard.
Fortunately they have WiFi. Unfortunately it is only on the seventh deck, in the public areas. Fortunately there are lots of tables to sit at. Unfortunately the WiFi is sloooowwwww… like Morocco desert slow.
We were below decks when we heard the whistle blow. Some grand music came on over the loudspeakers, and we felt a rumble beneath our feet. No lurching, just a small, earthquake, and we realized we were underway. We had set sail. Full steam ahead. And so on.
This is what we did for the afternoon:
After our exploration, we sat in our little cabin and drank a glass of wine. Good French wine we bought in Oslo.
Then we went up to the top deck of the ship, and found a place out of the wind, in the sun, where we could sit and hang out, reading and watching the water slide by.
The first couple hours you could see land on both sides, but then we hit the open water, and that got old, really fast. Plus the temperature started to drop. So we headed back into the cabin, where we ate our sandwiches and drank the rest of the wine as we listened to quiet music on my iPhone.
Some more reading up in the public areas, and then we decided to crash.
This took a little while, dancing around each other in the small room. I had the top bunk, Gail was stowed safely below, and we laid there in the dark, feeling the ship move and sway a little, taking the occasional roll or pitch, and hearing a crash once in a while when a wave? thudded into the front of the ship.
Gail tells me that this is not what it is like on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. She did that, years ago, staying in steerage with her best friend, Trish. She says there are activities and crafts, stops with things to see and all the food you can eat included in the cost.
Huh.
That’s what is missing here: I want to go to crafts and make a leather belt.
I was up pretty early in the morning, as usual, and enjoyed walking the ship and staring out to sea again, while waiting for the one coffee bar to open at seven. I admired the details on all the little ship models under glass, and wondered who builds those and do they get paid to do it?
I did a little more reading, tried to write some, but the best part was at 6:45 when I glanced up, and there, far on the horizon, like a mirage…
LAND-HO!
I wonder, do they even say “land-ho!” these days?
Anyway, there was the first edge of Denmark, and minute by minute it grew closer until you could see trees and low hills and even the occasional house.
Now we are between Sweden and Denmark, squeezing through the narrow part.
I got a cup of coffee, stood at one of the big windows in the public area and watched, before finishing my magazine and going to wake up Gail.
The shower was very small and quick. Good enough. We grabbed a cup of coffee at the bar, and made sure our bags were packed.
Mostly I am looking forward to getting to Copenhagen, off the boat and onto land to walk around and find a café.