River Cruise Anatomy - Safety First

At the conclusion of our last post, Anatomy of a River Cruise, you were relaxing in your cabin before dinner.  You checked out the schedule in more detail while you were relaxing in your cabin.   We continue our anatomy lesson with what happened next.

 

click on images to enlarge

Schedule at a Glance

Besides the printed schedule that was on your bed in the cabin, the computer monitor in the lobby had the day's events posted. You could also pull up the schedule, as well as other information, on the TV in your cabin.

It is very easy to find out about the schedule.

Safety Exercise

All passengers assembled on the sky deck at 6:15 PM where they were provided with a life jacket. Unlike large ocean cruise ships, the life jackets are stored in compartments on the open top deck. Instructions were given on how to put on the vests and after everyone was accounted for, we returned them and headed to the lounge for the actual safety briefing.

Our Cruise Director (CD), Mark, introduced the First Captain who welcomed us onboard and introduced the rest of the crew.  Mark then took over and provided the safety briefing.   In the event of an emergency, we would assemble on the sky deck where we'd be given life preservers like we were in the exercise.


Port Talk

Prior to dinner every evening, our CD held a briefing about the next day's activities.  On this first evening, he gave an overview of the first few days by showing us a presentation.   Most days started with an included excursion in the morning, followed by lunch, and one or more optional excursions in the afternoon.  There were some days where we'd have an afternoon sailing to our next destination.  Some days included overnight stays, where we could explore on our own in the evening if desired.

Following the talk, there were sign-up sheets for those passengers that had pre-booked included and optional excursions or for those that might have changed their minds after hearing more about the ports.  

​We hope you are hungry - it's time for the Embarkation Dinner, which deserves it's own post.

By now you should see some similarities and differences between ocean and river cruising.

 

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Anatomy of a River Cruise

​So you want to go on your first river cruise and you don't know what to expect.  We'll walk you through the cruise from start to finish.

If you've been on ocean cruises before, and not on a river cruise, you'd notice several differences upon arrival at the embarkation port. You'll probably first notice it's a much smaller ship with not as many people. Perhaps one of the most dramatic, and welcome differences, will be how easy the embarkation process is.

Pre-Cruise Option

click images to enlarge

We will assume a European river cruise for the purposes of this post.   Since most passengers are traveling from overseas, the cruise line offers a pre-cruise package.  Selecting this option takes all the extra planning out of the equation and offers the most seamless experience.

You arrive at your destination one or two days before the cruise departure and are either met at the airport or you can arrange your own transportation to the pre--cruise hotel.  Let's assume you have the first day to explore on your own.  Most hotels have mid-afternoon check-in times, but they can store your baggage so that you aren't held hostage to your bags until then.  You can then explore the city until later in the day.

The day of your cruise there are two choices:  a pre-cruise excursion (usually at an extra cost ) or transportation to the pier.  In either case, when you arrive at the ship, you'll drop off your baggage and meet in the lounge on the ship.   The crew will take care of your checked bags.

Embarkation will take place in the ship's lounge.  Someone from the crew will come around and check you in and then the staff will give a short briefing about the evening's events.   After a champagne toast and introduction of the crew, it's time to head to your cabin to freshen up before dinner.

Welcome Aboard Briefing

Each evening you'll gather in the lounge for a briefing about the next day's tour options.   On most cruise lines, there will be included excursions and there may be optional excursions available for additional cost.   Most tours will have different groups so that you can participate at your own pace.  Walking tours for example will have slow pace and fast pace at a minimum.  

Besides the briefing, there usually is a cocktail hour before dinner.   Most lines have open seating for dinner so you can meet different people throughout the cruise or stay with your own group.

To Be Continued ...

You've had an enjoyable day at the pre-cruise excursion.  You've already made some new friends during the past two days, and you are planning to meet them for dinner.  It's time to relax a bit before the evening festivities. 

 

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Vesteralen Embarkation

click images to enlarge

Bergen Embarkation 

The embarkation process in Bergen was rather quick. Our shuttle bus dropped us off just outside the terminal building. We brought our luggage inside and waited in a short line to be checked in.

We presented our paperwork, passports, and credit card as usual and were given our cabin card keys. Our checked luggage was tagged and put on a conveyor belt and off we went to get onboard.

We were directed up the escalator to a waiting room where we were greeted and told about what would happen next.

Safety Briefing

If you've been on cruises before, the first difference you'll notice about sailing on Hurtigruten MS Vesterålen is that you are required to sit through a safety briefing before you embark the ship.

The waiting room was filled with a number of passengers when we got there.  We were told the briefing would start in a few minutes.

One of the crew members introduced the safety briefing which was shown on video monitors located throughout the room.   You'll notice in the image above that this isn't your typical life preserver.  In fact, it's a thermal protection suit which makes sense since we'd be sailing in some pretty cold waters during the next 12 days.


A sticker was placed on our card to indicate that we had completed the safety briefing.  We were then directed to the ramp leading to the ship.

Exploring the Ship

Once onboard the ship, we explored the public areas until we were able to get into our cabin.  Pictured here is the cafe and gift shop which is where we waited.


Hungry between meals?  Want a cup of coffee or hot chocolate or perhaps a treat of some sort...  the Cafe was the place to go to purchase something to eat or drink.   It was also a meeting place before meals or excursions.

Additional photos can be found on our Norway Shutterfly page

MS Vesteralen (Facebook album)

Click on the image to the right for more Blog posts about this trip.

Follow us on Twitter: @ChrisPappinMCC  Pinterest: CruiseWithChris Pappin and Facebook: CruiseWithChris Pappin Cruises Inc

Artistry II Embarkation Evening

click on images to enlarge

Schedule at a Glance

Besides the printed schedule that was on our bed in the cabin, the computer monitor in the lobby had the day's events posted. You could also pull up the schedule, as well as other information, on the TV in your cabin.

It is very easy to find out about the schedule.

Safety Exercise

All passengers assembled on the sky deck at 6:15 PM where they were provided with a life jacket. Unlike large ocean cruise ships, the life jackets are stored in compartments on the open top deck. Instructions were given on how to put on the vests and after everyone was accounted for, we returned them and headed to the lounge for the actual safety briefing.

Welcome Aboard

Our Cruise Director (CD), Mark, introduced the First Captain who welcomed us onboard and introduced the rest of the crew.  This was followed by a champagne toast (the crew had ginger ale).

Mark then took over and provided the safety briefing.   In the event of an emergency, we would assemble on the sky deck where we'd be given life preservers like we were in the exercise.


Port Talk

Prior to dinner every evening, our CD held a briefing about the next day's activities.  On this first evening, he gave an overview of the first few days by showing us a presentation.   Most days started with an included excursion in the morning, followed by lunch, and one or more optional excursions in the afternoon.  There were some days where we'd have an afternoon sailing to our next destination.  Some days included overnight stays, where we could explore on our own in the evening if desired.

Following the talk, there were sign-up sheets for those passengers that had pre-booked included and optional excursions or for those that might have changed their minds after hearing more about the ports.  Then it was time to head for the dining room for our Embarkation Dinner.

^{Additional photos can be found on our Rhine & Moselle Shutterfly page}

Basel - Embarkation
Artistry2 - Embarkation Evening

Click on the image to the left for more Blog posts about this trip.

Follow us on Twitter: @ChrisPappinMCC  Pinterest: CruiseWithChris Pappin and Facebook: CruiseWithChris Pappin Cruises Inc