I'm standing in TopDeck Lounge, one of our most popular venues.

If you've read Cold Play, you'll know this is where my good friend Jason Davey spends his evenings entertaining passengers. 

TopDeck's located forward on Deck 9 (Sports Deck),  just underneath the Bridge. When I'm working late in my office, I can hear Jason's tunes. It's rather nice!

A Deck Plan or two would probably help you navigate around the ship (and the novel) !

Please click here for Deck Plans.

DAY-BY-DAY ITINERARY
An itinerary of our cruise will come in handy! Please click here for a day-by-day guide to our sea days and port days, and what you can expect to see in Vancouver, Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Ketchikan along the way.

If you've ever been on a cruise, you'll have a boxful of memories that includes daily bulletins, dinner menus and things you've made in those "activity classes" we organize to keep you busy while we're at sea. 

We've got lots of those for you as well! 

FOR YOUR SOUVENIR BOX....
What's on Board - Our daily summary of fun activities aboard Sapphire

Themed Dinner Menus - From Chef Domino and our Seawind Dining Room

Daily Drinks - A special collection chosen by Samuel, TopDeck's excellent bartender - one hot drink (this is Alaska, after all!), one cocktail (always popular) and one non-alcoholic concoction (Jason's favourite!) for every day of the cruise.

Daily Trivia Quiz - Hosted by our lovely Cruise Director, Jemima Vickers. Twenty challenging questions to test your knowledge each day. No Googling allowed!

Classy Cruise Crafts - We know you've always wanted to know how to fold a towel into an elephant - just like Manuel, Jason's cabin steward. Or how to create a paper box out of the pages of National Geographic. Or how to turn a watermelon into a Tiki Mask. Look no further, and prepare to be entertained and instructed!

STAR SAPPHIRE
While we're at sea, I'm sure you'll want to acquaint yourself with this wonderful old ship. Star Sapphire IS of a certain vintage, and she's tiny compared to the giant resort vessels that carry thousands of passengers and crew. But we all love her... and we hope you'll love her too!

Here she is, dockside, looking very smart indeed in her navy blue and white livery...

BRIDGE TOUR
Bridge Tours used to be routine - and sometimes, if the ship was in open water, the bosun would even let you take the wheel for a few moments - but all that's stopped now, because of security concerns.

You can come along with me, though, as I've arranged an exclusive and very special Visit to the Bridge just for you!  (Please click here to see more.)

ENGINE ROOM
I've also arranged for Kevin, our Chief of Security, to tell you all about our Engine Room. (Please click here.)

SPEAKING NAUTICALLY
Contrary to popular belief, the port side of a ship isn't the side of the ship that's tied up to the pier! If you've ever wondered what we're talking about when we say "Aft" or "Midship", or "Port" and "Starboard", here's a handy reference list . (Please click here.)

CAPTAIN'S LOG
And finally, when the cruise is over, and you're lingering on deck, savouring your last moments with our lovely Sapphire before disembarking, we thought you'd like to have this - a log of the cruise, from Captain Callico himself. (Please click here.)

THE "REAL" STAR SAPPHIRE
This is where I'll tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the ship that inspired Sapphire and, indeed, much of the novel, Cold Play. (Please click here.)

COLD PLAY
This is where I let Winona take over. She'll give you a little background to the novel - and all of the main characters - including me! (Please click here.)

CREDITS and ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A page filled with thank-you's from Winona to everyone who helped with Cold Play and this website, from inspiration, to encouragement, to feedback, to the final result.  Well worth a read, all by itself. (Check out the characters who were inspired by Winona's friends, after a call-out to see who'd be interested in coming aboard as passengers!) (Please click here.)

WINONA KENT
This link will take you back to Winona's personal web page. (Please click here.)

NAVIGATION
In case you ever get lost, at the very bottom of each page is a full list of links. Click on any of those links, and you'll be taken to that section. And, of course, once you've fully explored this site, if you'd like to download Winona's novel, Cold Play, from Amazon Kindle, there's a handy link for that as well! (Remember, you don't need a Kindle device to read a Kindle book - you can download free software from Amazon for your PC or Mac, your smartphone, your iPad and nearly everything else!)

And - a favour - if you've read Cold Play and you've enjoyed it - please tell your friends... blog about it, mention it on Twitter, Facebook, Google+... write a review... tell other readers about it on Amazon. And with any luck we'll all be back for another adventure - this time in the Caribbean!

Thank you for coming aboard to visit today - and on behalf of myself, Captain Callico, Jason, Jemima and everyone else who works aboard Star Sapphire, I wish you a wonderful onward journey and I hope we'll see you again soon!