Complete Cruise Recap!
Monday we left for Miami; it was very similar our last trip- same airline (American), same type of plane (small regional jets), same landing area (out away from the terminal, having to take a little bus to get inside), but this flight left a few hours later, meaning we didn't have to leave for the airport at ungodly hour, and we also didn't have to wait around when we got to the ship. The only negative part of the trip happened as soon as we got to the port. The porter who was supposed to take our suitcase was very rude, and wouldn't accept the cabin number I told him. I was reading right off a paper I'd downloaded as part of my e-docs. He told us we'd have to carry the suitcase on ourselves, and I really didn't want to do that. We got up to the entrance to the NCL terminal, and the person there, an actual NCL employee (porters work for the port itself) asked if we wanted to check our suitcase, and by this time I was crying and upset. He looked up our room number on a passenger list, and we got a new tag to fill out and sent our suitcase on its way. After that was taken care of, things went smoothly for the rest of the trip.
We checked in, boarded, received a free glass of champagne, and went directly to Deck 11 for lunch. Then, after 2PM, we were able to see our room. The room was smaller, a little smaller than what we've been used to with Carnival, but it did have a balcony, and was very cutely decorated. We laid down for a little while until lifeboat drill. After the drill was sailaway, so we went back up to Deck 11 for drinks and they were also grilling hamburgers, hotdogs, and chicken right there next to the pool, so we had something to eat. This is the second cruise in a row where our room has been one deck below the deck where the pool, buffets, and other activities are, and I am getting very spoiled by that! It's so convenient to just run up one floor to get a snack or a drink. That night we walked around to find out where things were, and went to bed early.
Tuesday the ship docked in Freeport, Bahamas. We decided to stay onboard because 1) we'd already been to Freeport, and 2) since the cruise didn't have a "sea day" we wanted to make our own. We played trivia, and won a couple of times. NCL gives out little souvenirs for prizes, instead of trophies, so we have some playing cards and luggage tags. We sat out by the pool for awhile, ate lunch, just hung out, basically. We ate in one of the main dining rooms for dinner,
and went to the show, which was a Broadway tribute and included songs from Moving Out, Wicked, Mamma Mia, Hairspray, and a couple of others. It made me want to see Wicked!
Wednesday we stopped in Nassau. We did get off the ship, but didn't do much. We took a horse-drawn carriage tour (the horse's name was Anna Nicole...LOL) and walked around a little. I tend to avoid the big, over-hyped jewelry stores like Diamonds International, but we found a small, out-of-the-way shop that sold locally made soaps, candles, etc, and I bought a necklace & earring set there. They have beads and the necklace has a pendant made from a shell. We got back on the ship for lunch. Spent the rest of the day just hanging out some more. Funny story- the ship had a nice little library with books you could borrow, and a shelf full of games like chess and Scrabble, and tables to play them. We got Uno, and started to play, when Frank noticed a stack of papers sitting on the shelf. It turned out to be some paperwork the ship needed to dock in Nassau- including the entire passenger manifest (names, birthdates, room #'s, passport #'s), the crew listing, and the ship's inventory (how much food & supplies it had). I can't believe someone just left it laying around! We turned it in at the main desk, but then later regretted not asking for some sort of reward.
Thursday we were supposed to go to Great Stirrup Cay, NCL's private island, but due to the windy conditions, it was not safe to operate the tenders, so we had a sea day after all. On one hand, I was disappointed because I've never done the private island thing and was interested to check it out, but really I enjoyed the ship so much I didn't mind spending another day onboard. We ate breakfast in the dining room since we were up early enough to do so! When we checked in at the desk, we were told that since were staying in a balcony, we could go eat at the other dining room, which had a buffet for the fruits, pastries, etc plus a menu for the hot items, so we did that. The cruise director announced that a new "Freestyle Daily" was being printed to accommodate the change of plans. A few extra trivia games were added to the itinerary, but I didn't win any more prizes. That night we went to the show (a revue of rock/pop/country music from the last 40 years), and later to The Quest, which is an adult scavenger hunt. We just watched, didn't play, but it gets pretty wild, and now we're prepared in case we go on another NCL cruise!
Friday we got up ate breakfast, and disembarked. Our flight was at 11:55 AM, which I had worried would be too early, but we had plenty of time. Disembarkment was really fast, and we were at the airport by 9:30. The airport wasn't as busy as it was the last time we'd flown out from there, so it didn't take us as long to get through security. We could have stayed on the ship another hour! We got home to our kitties by 3PM.
Overall, it was a great trip! The only complaint, of course, was that it was too short! After our last 4-day cruise, I said I'd never do another 4-day because it's not enough time, but of course I won this one, so I was willing to make an exception. :-) I loved the ship, loved the food- especially the buffet, it seemed to have so much variety, and at lunch they had these awesome pretzel rolls that I am already missing. We never tried any of the specialty restaurants, so that's still something I need to try if I sail NCL again. They are supposed to be wonderful, but I was okay just eating at the places that were included. Now I just need to figure out when, where, and on which cruise line, I will cruise again!
We checked in, boarded, received a free glass of champagne, and went directly to Deck 11 for lunch. Then, after 2PM, we were able to see our room. The room was smaller, a little smaller than what we've been used to with Carnival, but it did have a balcony, and was very cutely decorated. We laid down for a little while until lifeboat drill. After the drill was sailaway, so we went back up to Deck 11 for drinks and they were also grilling hamburgers, hotdogs, and chicken right there next to the pool, so we had something to eat. This is the second cruise in a row where our room has been one deck below the deck where the pool, buffets, and other activities are, and I am getting very spoiled by that! It's so convenient to just run up one floor to get a snack or a drink. That night we walked around to find out where things were, and went to bed early.
Tuesday the ship docked in Freeport, Bahamas. We decided to stay onboard because 1) we'd already been to Freeport, and 2) since the cruise didn't have a "sea day" we wanted to make our own. We played trivia, and won a couple of times. NCL gives out little souvenirs for prizes, instead of trophies, so we have some playing cards and luggage tags. We sat out by the pool for awhile, ate lunch, just hung out, basically. We ate in one of the main dining rooms for dinner,
and went to the show, which was a Broadway tribute and included songs from Moving Out, Wicked, Mamma Mia, Hairspray, and a couple of others. It made me want to see Wicked!
Wednesday we stopped in Nassau. We did get off the ship, but didn't do much. We took a horse-drawn carriage tour (the horse's name was Anna Nicole...LOL) and walked around a little. I tend to avoid the big, over-hyped jewelry stores like Diamonds International, but we found a small, out-of-the-way shop that sold locally made soaps, candles, etc, and I bought a necklace & earring set there. They have beads and the necklace has a pendant made from a shell. We got back on the ship for lunch. Spent the rest of the day just hanging out some more. Funny story- the ship had a nice little library with books you could borrow, and a shelf full of games like chess and Scrabble, and tables to play them. We got Uno, and started to play, when Frank noticed a stack of papers sitting on the shelf. It turned out to be some paperwork the ship needed to dock in Nassau- including the entire passenger manifest (names, birthdates, room #'s, passport #'s), the crew listing, and the ship's inventory (how much food & supplies it had). I can't believe someone just left it laying around! We turned it in at the main desk, but then later regretted not asking for some sort of reward.
Thursday we were supposed to go to Great Stirrup Cay, NCL's private island, but due to the windy conditions, it was not safe to operate the tenders, so we had a sea day after all. On one hand, I was disappointed because I've never done the private island thing and was interested to check it out, but really I enjoyed the ship so much I didn't mind spending another day onboard. We ate breakfast in the dining room since we were up early enough to do so! When we checked in at the desk, we were told that since were staying in a balcony, we could go eat at the other dining room, which had a buffet for the fruits, pastries, etc plus a menu for the hot items, so we did that. The cruise director announced that a new "Freestyle Daily" was being printed to accommodate the change of plans. A few extra trivia games were added to the itinerary, but I didn't win any more prizes. That night we went to the show (a revue of rock/pop/country music from the last 40 years), and later to The Quest, which is an adult scavenger hunt. We just watched, didn't play, but it gets pretty wild, and now we're prepared in case we go on another NCL cruise!
Friday we got up ate breakfast, and disembarked. Our flight was at 11:55 AM, which I had worried would be too early, but we had plenty of time. Disembarkment was really fast, and we were at the airport by 9:30. The airport wasn't as busy as it was the last time we'd flown out from there, so it didn't take us as long to get through security. We could have stayed on the ship another hour! We got home to our kitties by 3PM.
Overall, it was a great trip! The only complaint, of course, was that it was too short! After our last 4-day cruise, I said I'd never do another 4-day because it's not enough time, but of course I won this one, so I was willing to make an exception. :-) I loved the ship, loved the food- especially the buffet, it seemed to have so much variety, and at lunch they had these awesome pretzel rolls that I am already missing. We never tried any of the specialty restaurants, so that's still something I need to try if I sail NCL again. They are supposed to be wonderful, but I was okay just eating at the places that were included. Now I just need to figure out when, where, and on which cruise line, I will cruise again!