Central Park grows on me

Before boarding Allure of the Seas this week, I had wondered what life at sea was going to be like staying in a cabin which had no view of the sea.
Not an inside cabin with no windows, but a balcony cabin overlooking the ship’s Central Park, a peaceful area the length of a football pitch and the width of a three-lane road, home to three restaurants, a cafe, wine bar, and a couple of shops.
The main concern was not that I would be deprived of a restful view of the ocean, but that what replaced it would be an outlook onto the equivalent of a seven-storey block of flats, each with its own glass-fronted balcony, on the opposite side of the park.
That’s the view from my balcony in the picture above.
True, it would have been unwise to venture onto my balcony grasping my early evening gin and tonic and clad only in bathrobe and slippers – which is what I am quite likely to do while on a cruise.
And I remembered to keep my curtains closed in the mornings until after I had dressed – as did most of the passengers opposite.
I could have spent an entire day in my cabin, on the balcony, and down in the park munching, lunching and drinking, without ever venturing to an open deck where I could see – or hear – the waves. I could have sat quietly reading a book, listening to recorded birdsong until disturbed by the afternoon calypso band, or the Scottish piper who plays each evening.
I did miss the sea, and my cabin of choice remains one with an open view. But the prospect of an extended stay in a Central Park cabin was beginning to grow on me by the time I had to pack up and leave.