Joan Lunden Behind Closed Doors: Cruise Ship

it's a 300 million dollar floating city that can take you around the world join me as we go behind closed doors or the crystal harmony one of the most luxurious cruise ships on the water Crystal Cruises has been honored as the world's best large cruise ship line by two of the top travel magazines their award-winning service puts them in a class with the most exclusive spas and resorts in the world they have this personal touch that the other ships don't have once they start to know you as a person you don't even have to ask them they know what you like that's exactly what their guests have come to expect our customers are well-traveled for the most part they're not first-time cruisers they have been around the block some cruise companies have fleets of more than 15 ships Cristal has only three and unlike most cruise ships which always cover the same route the Cristal ships are constantly on the move with an itinerary that takes them around the world extraordinary service on the high seas isn't cheap a Caribbean cruise can cost more than 17 thousand dollars per person for the Cristal penthouse suite and a 100 day Pacific Ocean cruise can cost more than a hundred and eighty thousand dollars per person I joined the crystal harmony in the Caribbean on the island of st. Thomas I'll get two days to find out what life is like inside this elite world and to see what it takes to keep the crystal of cruising thank you so BIC as I arrived at the dock the ship looked quite imposing 12 stories high in 790 feet long but as big as it looks it's actually half the size of mega cruise ships which can carry more than 3,000 guests we're just 940 passengers it's closer to the dimensions of the old classic cruise liners but this is the 21st century and like all guests I had to go through a security check after that the White Glove treatment began as I was welcomed on board this is genuine I'm from Turkey I'm gonna be your Butler for this please the staff is as international as the itineraries with more than 40 different nationalities remain there for relaxing the penthouse has come complete with twenty four-hour-a-day butler service this is your stateroom how pretty on a ship the biggest luxury is space and in these penthouses you have plenty of it nine hundred square feet by cruise ship standards that's huge private sunshine forget tiny portholes most rooms have their own branda this is going to be your private under by a st. Thomas and from here this is your walk-in closet because every girl needs a walk-in closet wait till you see the bathroom I thought all shipboard bathrooms were the size of closets but here all rooms come with full-size tub and marble accents my penthouse had a separate shower and a huge jacuzzi tub overlooking the ocean you can have your champagne over here with the view you can just enjoy the time chattin did his homework and found out in advance that I love chocolate dipped strawberries so he had them ready for me that's the kind of service you're paying for please I hope this is going to be your happy one thank you so much it's great pleasure hmm nice way to start crystal has one of the highest crew to guest ratios in the business five hundred and forty five crew members serve just nine hundred and forty passengers with little fanfare the ship slowly pulled away from the dock and we left st. Thomas behind as I enjoyed the view the staff was busy unpacking my suitcase it's all included in the price everything on the ship is tailored to their guests lifestyle they have a relaxing spa a salon and a selection of upscale shops of course there's shuffleboard nicely done but you can also hone your golf swing plop down step step swing your arms let your body move and swish the club through the mat the harmony employs PGA golf pros to help you with your game let it stay level to the ground and swish nicely done very athletic oh very nice tips thank you thank you very much off the ship a variety of excursions can take guests under the water or into the jungle but here one size doesn't fit all we can sit down a person II work with each and every single person to help then maximizing to gain the most out of each protocol that we visit and if the guests simply want to do nothing at all that can be arranged - even then your Butler is just a page away so what are the tools of your trade well first of all as you see we do have our paging system over here one two three four pagers you know this is the most important tool for us our guests can contact us anywhere in the ship dinner in the crystal dining room is a formal affair here chivalry is alive and well women are elegantly escorted inside tonight I have the honor of sitting at the captain's table ho-jon has a very nice cruise with us yes everybody yes this is the captain's public ceremonial role tomorrow I'll get a chance to go where the guests can't under the bridge for a personal tour for the guests on board the crystal harmony is a luxurious floating resort before the captain and crew working behind closed doors the ship is fifty thousand tons of steel and raw power the passengers relaxed I wanted to explore the ship to see what the guest never will just down the hall from the penthouse suite is the heart of the ship the bridge like the cockpit of an airplane it's strictly off-limits to all guests security concerns have made passenger tours a thing of the past as I expected the bridge is full of high-tech equipment of course there's radar and electronic chart displays it's showing all ships moving whereas the screen has a we are yeah we're there moving this way here follow the track over the lane up here but I was surprised to see them also using good old-fashioned Maps this is a very shallow water yeah but it's ocean but it's very shallow water suite we don't want to be over there you mean right out there the ocean right out there is too shallow for us Ryan just a little bit more we were cruising just off the coast of Cuba even out here there's traffic to avoid and definite lanes to stay in and on a ship this size you can't exactly turn on a dime yes so we see it over here this is the steering wheel on Motorz ship here not really a wheel but we are running on autopilot at the moment so if I like to steer the ship by hand steering will you switch this one over here you have to be very very very careful coming five degrees is the most you can do however I admit I was nervous taking the wheel of this huge 12 story ship come a little bit to the other way this way that way yes the magnetic compass shows you your course and the direction you're going I have a lot of people on board here you go make sure it's back in the right position very good what is the biggest danger galaxy well I will always think that's a fire you know that's will be the last thing that we like to happen on a on a ship actually the crew is specially trained to handle a fire or any emergency and passengers go through a mandatory lifeboat drill on every cruise if you have to do a an emergency stop we have to press these two buttons here those two red buttons this would stop the whole thing I won't do is promise these two buttons right here would just bring the whole thing to a there's not a screeching halt but just up yet it would turn the motors off desk you ever do that never there was one last button I wanted to push I see air horn if I do it I think we can do it that's your point yeah yes what if I this is cool just short right yes that's power I like that but the real power is downstairs on deck two behind these closed doors the massive ship is propelled by two electric motors powered by four diesel generator engines and one exhilarate Odle of 50,000 horsepower the maximum speed of the ship is 23 knots that's about 26 miles per hour they have enough fuel on board to stay out at sea for one and a half months they generate enough electricity to serve a city of 20,000 people and produce 175,000 gallons of fresh water every day from the air conditioning to elevators all the ships technical equipment is monitored 24 hours a day from the engine control room on deck for if there's a problem they'll know it upstairs on Dec 6 near the front office security also keeps an eye on every part of the ship by Patrol five patrol yeah could you take a look in the luggage hamlet area their security force screens all luggage and cargo coming on board and ensures that only passengers with ID are allowed on the ship in port the harmony deploys small boats to patrol the water around the ship at sea the harmony is like a self-contained self-sufficient City for medical emergencies the ship has a doctor on call 24 hours a day their medical center has what most hospitals do x-rays a lab operating table and an ICU they have to be prepared for everything the ship even has a morgue welders locksmith florists and tailors are all part of what keeps this floating resort running smoothly their laundry facility washes mountains of towels sheets and uniforms every day but one of the biggest operations on board is buying storing and preparing enough food to feed 1500 hungry people with all of their restaurants cafes buffets and 24-hour room service the guests and crew go through about four and a half thousand meals a day my kitchen have a 24-hour operation otherwise are gonna keep up with all the food productions in the dining room guests leisurely enjoy the kind of elaborate meal you'd find in a five-star restaurant but most five-star restaurants are cooking 900 meals at a time backstage in the kitchen executive chef Marcus new fur has more than a hundred people running around preparing the dishes the food is mass-produced but carefully quality controlled Marcus checks every plate personally their guests expect extraordinary personal touches like having their favorite bottle of wine onboard special dietary requests are never a problem from sultry to gluten-free to microbiotic diet and for coffee meals on the ship he can't just run out to the store if he runs out of ingredients you have to make sure that time the ship leaves port I have to really make sure I have ever seen planning is essential we start off with all the shopping units together for the next cruise about two weeks ahead of time and that shopping list is nothing less than amazing thousand three hundred pounds of fresh strawberries 80 pounds of blueberries 60 pounds of frost Ares thousand five hundred pounds of romaine lettuce about eight to ten thousand pounds of melons three thousand pounds of carrots about four thousand pounds of potatoes new potatoes sweet potatoes baking potatoes boiling potatoes not to mention 750 live lobsters for our welcome dinner and 80 pounds of Russian caviar for a two-week cruise his shopping bills top five million dollars a year when we come back on stage in backstage nobody follow night like you'd expect and some you might not behind closed doors continues here on A&E when a passenger pays as much as 180 thousand dollars per person for a 100 day crystal Cruz that guest expects nothing but the best so when the Sun Goes Down on the crystal harmony the curtain goes up on elaborate stage shows dance bands and the ship's casino Cristal has brought Caesars Palace to the high seas the 85 slots can begin ringing as soon as the ship is in international waters three miles off the coast I tried my luck at one of their five blackjack tables guests can play until 2:00 a.m. or until the high rollers are done while the casino is a little bit of Las Vegas their estate shows offer a little bit of Broadway on the ship 10 singers and dancers perform every night the shows are run about an hour long and we have a million costume changes hundreds of wigs hats shoes no-expense-spared a show typically features more than 100 thousand dollars worth of costumes the polish proteins the audience sees are a stark contrast to the controlled chaos backstage the ship's dressing rooms leave little room to change and performing on the ocean presents unique challenges the ship's rocking and we have a lot of things that you don't have on land obviously this doesn't move under you on land so it's very jarring to your body very strange thing is when you go to do cartwheels yeah it all comes up to meet your hands or you're going upside down and it moves away from you then these performers will work at least ten hours every day for two months on this ship and two months on another ship before getting two months vacation Nicola Morten left England to work on the harmony I wanted to go where the Sun was shining and I love traveling I love meeting people and working on crystal we get to see the whole world for the workers there are definite rules concerning the guests they can serve them but not date them that's just a big no-no on the ship there's no fraternizing with the guests if you're caught with a guest you'd be fired immediately disembarked in the next port so a lot of the crew date other crew members quite a few people have been married she admits this life isn't for everyone there's some people that would love to come on a cruise ship and as soon as they get here they absolutely hate it it's very they find it very claustrophobic if you're doing a Pacific crossing or Atlantic crossing you have seven sea days in a row where you don't see land you can't go off and go shopping there's just see all around you and that's sometimes pretty tough to cope with many have to make the best of sharing tiny living spaces but there are advantages you really don't have to worry about anything like in real life you know you don't have to pay your rent you don't have to pay your expenses for the food they are taking of the insurance their laundry also if you like the captain has earned his relatively spacious quarters complete with wet bar fireplace and veranda the living quarters for the ship's other officers like Anna Lee Thoren are much more modest but they do get privileges the rest of the crew doesn't I'm allowed to go to the alternative the restaurants the various bars onboard public areas guest areas whilst you're as a crew member I'm much more restricted and that can that makes a world much smaller I mean we're in the small world already just as certain guest areas are off-limits to the crew they have areas that are off-limits to the guests including recreation rooms a pool and a bar it's all part of an entire world the guests never see there's a whole behind-the-scene thing we have the crew elevators three sets just like the guest of three sets we have crew staircases even more than the guests have we hide them behind this year we have corridors when you see a guest corridor and on the K for example you can just bet there will be one exactly the same on the inside behind that wall on the inside for the crew and after the guests call of the day a different kind of night life begins what's going on here at night but there's a lot of things happening behind the scenes during the night all the cleaning which is done at night and food preparation for the next day and maintenance from the tech department or angel Department and by the time the guests wake up in the morning everything should be nice and smooth and shiny again the crew on the night shift works quickly they have to make the most of just a few hours in the kitchen there is so much baking to be done that they work around the clock I was amazed by the numbers every day they've baked 700 croissants 2500 rolls and 800 Danish pastries down the hall the engine control room operates throughout the night there's always weather to be watched information to be logged in and systems to be monitored on deck they're preparing the chairs and umbrellas in a few hours the area will be filled with people but now everything is quiet and peaceful meanwhile workers are busy preparing breakfast for nearly 1500 guests and crew members and the Sun rises over the ocean gradually the passengers reclaim the ship and a new day begins aboard the Harmony the guests will probably never know the hard work that goes on behind the scenes to make all of this luxury possible but then again they're not supposed to the crystal harmony behind closed doors

Channel: JoanLunden

Views: 7,227

Rating: 4.7272725 out of 5

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Id: Wgpjw1IA0xk

Length: 24min 7sec (1447 seconds)

Published: Thu Jul 07 2016