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June 15, 2016

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Sapphire Princess sets sail for relaxation

FOR modern people, staying busy and connected are part and parcel of everyday life. In fact, many of us have no idea what it’s like to be free from work, the Internet and social media?

This is what I was thinking after I boarded the Sapphire Princess cruise ship. Sailing from the Wusong International Cruise Port, the ship stopped in Jeju Island, South Korea and Nagasaki, Japan for a day respectively before coming back to Shanghai. The whole trip lasted for five days and four nights.

Passengers on the vessel were clearly informed that Internet access on the boat would be very expensive — about US$79 cents per minute — since passengers could only reach the Internet via a satellite connection. This meant that I and my fellow passengers could expect to lose our online lifelines with the outside world.

Despite some initial stress at being cut off, my concerns were quickly swept away. My anxiety about being “disconnected” was replaced by a feeling of deep relaxation. What’s more, there were plenty of things to do and enjoy on the boat.

Before the vessel sailed off, I walked around the ship to check out its facilities. I found various restaurants and bars serving high-quality food and drinks in both Chinese and western styles; two pools, a theater, a casino, a spa center and a gym. In the central square, shows and activities kept people entertained. There was a basketball court and mini-golf course on top of the vessel.

The pools were packed with people soon after the ship left Shanghai. Several smaller heated tubs around the main pool were particularly popular.

It felt exceptionally good to drink some cool juice after dipping into the warm water. The drinks were not free but the price was reasonable: for US$7 a day, visitors can order free-flow soft drinks anytime on the ship, in and out of restaurants.

The background music was mainly from live concert footage played on a giant screen above the pool area — mostly of classic crowd-pleasers like Bon Jovi and Sheryl Crow.

After the ship reached the high seas, the casino was opened as well. I had thought that the casino would not so popular, as most of the people onboard were Chinese seniors, a group known for their conservatism. Oh, how wrong I was.

The casino was crowded of people playing slots and Black Jack. Some of the players were so generous that they wagered US$500 on each hand. Others were content to stand by and watch. The casino definitely was one of the two busiest places on the ship.

The other hot spot was the cafeteria, named Horizon Court. It is open until 11:30pm and offered breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner. There were hundreds of types of food, from appetizers to desserts, enough to keep your taste buds busy all day long.

There were also six restaurants serving sit-down meals on the ship and each had a unique menu. Cruisers could order steak, lobster or fine Italian cuisine — all at favorable prices.

The Sterling Steakhouse was my top choice. Lobster and prawn were featured appetizers on the menu. The tiger prawn was chewy and the lobster bisque was smooth and rich.

But the true star was still the steak. The filet steak I ordered was so tender and juicy that with just one cut, the meat juice flew onto the plate. The restaurant also provided three special types of salt to go with the steak. The rosy-colored Himalayan salt was the best match with the steak, as it brought out, but didn’t overwhelm the natural flavor of the meat.

The dessert was the icing on the cake. The chocolate the chef chose was definitely one of the best I have ever tasted.

If all these rich indulgences make you feel guilty about your swelling waistline, all you have to do is head to the gym and torch some calories.

Delightful destinations

The relaxing experience on the boat meant that our stops in Jeju and Nagasaki were just one perk of the trip. Personally I preferred Nagasaki more. This was my third time to Japan but my first visit to the city, and it reminded me of why I love the country. It was small, quiet and clean, and people there were friendly and warm-hearted.

Nagasaki is a city that has experienced both the glories and the traumas of Japanese history. It was once one of the busiest ports of the country, but it was also the target of an atomic bomb.

Today in Nagasaki, many visitors head to Glover Garden and Peace Park to review the past, while also enjoying the peaceful life of the city and its refreshing coastal climate.

As with my two previous trips to Japan, when I was about to leave I was already missing it.

Before I realized, it was nearly time to disembark from the Sapphire Prince. It all happened too soon, too fast.

On the last night of the voyage, I met with Heikki Laakkonen, captain of the ship. It was reassuring to see such a tranquil, reliable man in charge of our vessel.

“I have been working on the sea for decades,” Laakkonen told me. “And my biggest wish is to see people being happy on the cruise.”

I, for one, believed he had achieved his wish.




 

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