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For more than a week, I've barely left this ship. It's not for lack of temptation. The 10-day sail around the southern Caribbean reads like a vacationer's wish list, heading from Fort Lauderdale to the Bahamas, St. Thomas, Dominica, Curaçao, and Aruba. But I'm on the gleaming Enchanted Princess, the newest mega-ship from Princess Cruises, and there's a lot on its sun-drenched decks—including bird's-eye views of these dreamy destinations—to make me want to stay put.
Each morning, I pull open my shades and step out onto a private balcony to find some bright new vista before me. One day, it's a harbor in Curaçao, a constellation of bobbing sailboats; on others, there's only the endless expanse of aqua sea. I drink it in either way, in my own kind of mindful meditation, sitting with my face in the sun.
In the Italianate piazza, the ship's nucleus, passengers cluster on the shiny marble floor in groups of two and four, chirping excitedly about what they might do in port that day. Will they post up on a beach or take a guided driving tour around the island, watching the palm trees blow past their open windows? I promise myself I'll join them later. Instead, I head up, up, and out, to spend another big day by the pool.
Pools, that is. There are two of them on 16—two emerald-cut diamonds set in the bezel of a wide wooden p. You can sit splayed out on a lounge chair beside them, but I stake out a spot one level above, near a hot tub that bubbles like Old Faithful. Right by the outer railing, it has a grazing view of the sea beyond and the activity below. Hours tick by as I watch sunglasses-clad guests tread water, snow-white piña coladas in hand. By midafternoon, I've joined them. At the Seaview Bar, which has the best view of the action, the bartender fixes me a Dark N' Stormy, its ice cubes clinking noiselessly as I saunter back to my perch. Maybe I'll swim laps, I think, or head up one more level to the jogging track that encircles the 18th deck, wrapping around a netted basketball court and somehow, like a miracle at sea, a tiny putting green.
I use the dinner hour as an opportunity to sample the filet mignon at every restaurant on the ship, from the white-tablecloth steakhouse Crown Grill to the tony French spot La Bistro Sur La Mer (and every night it's cooked to a perfect rare). But before each meal, I'm drawn back to the piazza, lingering at the top of its grand spiral staircase to drink it all in. Some evenings, there's a four-piece band performing, with couples grooving to Beatles covers. Friends grab gelato as an after-dinner treat before they head up to a show at Take Five, the only proper jazz venue at sea (aside from the Take Five onboard sister ship Sky Princess).
