Celebrity Reflection January 14 to 21 2017

[Bimmer09]

Norris, you just keep on entertaining us . Looking forward to your memories on the Song Of Norway. The reading will keep me going until we leave on Friday to fly to Miami to take the cruise you have just finished reviewing. This will be our second Celebrity cruise. Thank you for your insight , it has helped with our planning and heightened our anticipation. Again thank you both for your long hours of dedication for us to to be able to travel along on your

Reflection Western Caribbean cruise. Looking forward to your next 4 cruises.

 

Bones, how exciting to be heading to Miami on Friday to do that itinerary on that ship! Bon Voyage! I'd be beside myself-but that would mean booking two seats on the plane.

I'm glad you found the review entertaining and I hope it has read well (i.e quickly). I always go read it through once I am done but by then it's too late to change anything.

I'd be super happy to see you in my next 4 reviews! That goes for everyone reading. It would be a long slog if each post was met with the sound of crickets. Banter makes the world go round.

The brochure from 1986 won't be finished by Friday but will be started today so you'll get the gist afore ye go.

Thanks for being part of this review!

Norris

[jules815]

Bones43, have a great time on Reflection. My daughter and I will be boarding the following week on 4/1 to do the eastern Caribbean itinerary. :D

 

Norris, really enjoyed your review(s), pictures and video. Thanks again for taking us along.

[MisterMet]

It's sometime after 4 a.m and I am out on the streets of South Beach again. We are both getting up early this morning, to pack and check out of the hotel and take a cab to the airport to return to Chicago.

Room service doesn't start until 6 a.m and Starbucks opens at the same time.

 

I still had the vivid memory of our last meal in Joe's

 

YxrClXAw0SI

 

I relax on a wall by the beach listening to the surf roll in, just the whitecaps visible in the darkness. No one is on the beach but in the distance I can see late revelers or early risers walking around. There are cars on the street at this hour. I imagine it is a town that parties late and gets to bed before sun-up. Those days are far behind me and today I get excited at the prospect of getting to bed before 11 pm, not that it happens often enough, to luxuriate in sleep.

This past Sunday I worked from 7 a.m to 8 pm and was back in work the next morning at 4 a.m-but that is exceptional. I do however value sleep and enjoy 8 full hours when possible.

No coffee in Walgreens on the corner but they did tell me of a Cuban place just down the street.

It is on Lincoln a couple of blocks back from the beach. There were people hanging out on a dark park bench and some standing in doorways...I was a little uneasy but my desire for coffee-Cuban coffee-was strong. I don't speak any Spanish but it might have helped in the tiny coffee shop (no seats, just a counter) so there was some pointing and my years as a French mime stood me in good stead. The place was called Munchies if you need an early coffee and a bite.

Carol was very receptive to some coffee and pastries (basically a Danish but with guava or some such tropical flavor).

I will always remember the lobby of the Ritz-another world entered when coming from the beach. Immediately comforting and elegant...

 

 

I know we will see it again.

 

Packing (sigh) but for the last time. Back home in Chicago a washer and dryer was waiting.

The online check-in wasn't working on the TV (a problem we often encounter) so we just dropped off our room keys at the front desk. No door-opener men this early in the morning but luckily I remembered how to do it myself. There were taxis parked across the street and I hailed one and we were off at sunrise before the streets and the traffic could come alive. It's a $35 zoned fare to the airport and it took 20 minutes.

Sadly there was no United Airlines club where we like to dwell and relax before our flight. Bummer. Having TSA pre I didn't expect to have to take out my laptop but I had to anyway which was a pain as it was buried under camera accessories and cartons of cigarettes. A first world problem. We were at the gate an hour prior to boarding Always Be Early!

Luckily Chicago is only a 3 hour flight away and we had sandwiches from Au Bon Pain i the terminal. Unluckily an Italian guy sat between us on the plane and began a long coughing fit, at first without his hand as a blast guard. Nice. He even coughed in his sleep.

When we landed I went out into the cold of Chicago after the half-mile walk from the gate and immediately felt unwell. Feverish. Next day I had a cough and it's still with me. (does anyone have a violin?)

The good news is Snowy was safe and sound and more than ready to annoint Carol's black pants with a thick layer of white cat hair! Welcome home!!!

A few hours later I began writing this, January 22nd.

I have enjoyed writing and hearing from so many of you. I have 4 cruises and two land trips to anticipate now-it's that cup runneth over thing, truly. I hope some of you will visit during my next two Princess reviews (October and January) and the two X beyond that.

I'll let you know when the reviews start using this thread.

As I said earlier I will now take a (Guinness) pause and embark on the RCCL 1986 Brochure ending to the thread. See how cruising was in 1986! See me! And some of my friends! Pricing and cabin layouts from way back when-how do they compare to today? Ships with two passenger decks-did they really exist? No balconies? I don't believe you!

One MDR, no specialty restaurants. Oh the humanity!

Stay tuned!

Norris

 

 

Norris,

 

Couldn't get this to post from my computer:

 

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Thanks for everything. We are [emoji35][emoji30][emoji31][emoji31][emoji31][emoji31][emoji30][emoji30][emoji31][emoji31][emoji36][emoji36][emoji36][emoji35][emoji35][emoji35] that it's coming to its inevitable conclusion.

 

Trip and Pam

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Bimmer09]

ONE PHONE CALL....

...changed my life although I couldn't have guessed it when I was told about it. Flashback to early August 1985....

In an entertainment booking agency in Manchester ,England, the phone rang and the voice on the other end tells the agent that a piano player/singer is needed on a cruise ship in the Caribbean. It's a Wednesday and the job needs to be filled on Saturday when the ship returns to port. That's a tough assignment for the agent! However in the room visiting is a woman who "knows a guy in London who would be ideal".



A phone call is made to that guy-let's call him John as that was his name and he accepts without really knowing what he is getting in to.



I meet John in the hallway of our apartment building which is a 3 story row house with garden in a quiet and leafy suburb of London called Dulwich, after parking my company car from my day job with an American company called ARA Services. We live opposite each other on the ground floor and have known each other and played in bands together over the past 7 years at home and abroad. He is excited to tell me his news but in a panic as he only has two days to pack and organize himself. He has to be on a flight to Miami on Friday and join his ship on Saturday to begin work. Yikes!



Friday morning comes and I am seeing him off in his taxi. The last thing I said to him was "Hey let me know if they need a drummer!" and laughed thinking the chances were slim.



Next Tuesday I get a call late at night from Jamaica. "Hey, it's John-do you want to come out and play on this cruise ship?" I said yes between the words cruise and ship. One caveat-I had to find a guitarist/singer to come with me but I had two weeks. We had to be in Miami by August 25th. Two more members of the Manchester band were quitting as they didn't like life on board a ship.



I had just enough time to place an ad in Britain's biggest music paper of the day called Melody Maker and wait for the phone to ring when published on Thursday. It rang a few times and I'd screen guys over the phone. If they sounded dull that disqualified them as I didn't want to take a dull fellow along. It had to be someone witty and fun. I found a guy called Geoff who was married but his wife was ok with him leaving for 3 months to get a cruise experience. He brought his guitar with him and as it was a Fender Stratocaster I immediately knew he was no dummy. We talked and had an instant rapport and I liked the cut of his jib. He'll do I thought even though I hadn't heard him play through an amplifier.



I got a list of the songs the band had been playing so Geoff and I could familiarize ourselves and hit the deck running. Airline tickets from a company called Royal Caribbean Cruise Line arrived with a letter telling us to report to some clinic in Miami for a medical before reporting to RCCL office on the dock.



I gave notice to my job and found someone to rent my apartment for 3 months and soon was on a flight to Miami with Geoff. I was teaching drums in my spare time and left messages for my students that I'd be on hiatus for 13 weeks.



We both passed our medicals although I remember one Philippino guy in the waiting room with us didn't and had to return to his homeland. How must he have felt?!





Off in a shuttle van to the Entertainment office in the RCCL building on the harbor where we were given our uniforms and formal attire. Contracts had already passed in the mail.

The ship, the Song of Norway, was berthed close to the offices and I was amazed at how big it was. Once onboard we met the now remaining two band members-Mark, the bandleader and bass player/singer and John who already had a tan and had put on weight. We dropped our luggage in our cabin and went to the ship's disco to rehearse while there were no passengers on board. The disco was called Land of the Rising Sun. The drums waiting for me were rather old and beaten to death already, unlike the pristine sparkly things I had owned in London. Geoff plugged into a Fender amp and once we started running through some songs-Springsteen was super hot then- I was relieved to hear Geoff wailing on his axe. On electric guitar he was even more impressive and "Hendrix lives" came to mind.



OK so we have a band that can play which is good as our first gig is this afternoon at 4 pm as the ship sets sail for Grand Cayman. We only did 3 ports that first tour and I can't recall whether GC or Cozumel came first. We would add Labadee as port #1 in 1986 but that's getting ahead of the story.



We had to play two radically different styles of music. Once a day we would play cocktail lounge music instrumentals-The More I see you, Quando, quando, quando, spring to mind.

Bossa novas, waltzes, foxtrots etc, easy on the ear and relaxing. At night we rocked in the Nightclub blasting away for those who wanted to dance and drink until 3 a.m when we finished. This would happen 6 days a week with one day off in Jamaica when we slipped into our provided dinner jackets and bow ties and mingled. We ate in the lone MDR with the passengers and had our own tables for musicians. There were four bands. Us, two Polish bands without singers but with brass and grand pianos and a steel drum band who played by the pool and at the midnight buffet. In Cozumel a local Mariachi band came on to play the MDR during lunch. They strolled around playing to each table and I loved the happy music and their voices.



We worked roughly 3.5 hours a day, shared two small cabins on deck 3 which had a room attendant assigned to make beds, bring fresh towels, clean the tiny bathroom. Our clothes were laundered as there was a lot of white pants and shirts we wore with our blue blazers bearing the Crown and Anchor emblem. Those we wore when playing cocktail music in My Fair Lady lounge and in the South Pacific lounge where we accompanied the cruise director during the Masquerade Party once a cruise. In the disco it was white pants and Hawaiian shirts which we bought in Miami before sailing.



You can see the level of detail I could get into here and I sense an Epic beginning to form but the story is really supposed to be about the 1986 brochure so just to prove there is hope of me getting to that here is the first photo.

The Cover

 

 





 

 

Norris the tanned on 7 Mile Beach 30 years ago



 

At this point you have two options. Option 1 is to run for the hills. Option 2 is to continue reading. It's your move...

Option 1 starting to look like a good idea...LOL!

[vplsh]

Norris,

I have read so many of your reviews and just want to thank you for all the wonderful pictures and information. My husband is into photography as well so I've passed along your camera suggestions and several of the pictures to him as well.

I choose option 2...

[Tinzu]

Definitely an option 2 for me [emoji3]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[MGnut]

Option 2 for sure :D

[jules815]

Option 2!

 

What an adventure of a lifetime for you. :D

[macsford]

Norris, once again I have enjoyed your great review and pictures not only of the cruise but also Miami.

It must take so much of your time to put it all together; it is much appreciated.

 

And now there is 1986 and the next cruise to look forward to.

 

Thank you.

Sandra

[winncruiser]

This needs to be a new thread so your fan club will know where to find this story!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Walt fan]

Option 2 but of course!! Oh my goodness Norris, I am captivated by your stint on RC back in the 80's; better than a book. Please share all you want, I love your style and this is just so interesting. I love the hills and valleys and twists and turns life gives you, and yours took a big twist on the RC. Thank you for sharing.

 

And yes, following faithfully along.

[Bimmer09]

This needs to be a new thread so your fan club will know where to find this story!

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

If they are in my "fan club" I hope they are (a) already reading this and (b) fully paid up to date on their dues.

When I have written a bit more of the Brochure ramble I will go on the Royal board and alert the people there to this review. As for the Princess board I don't have a good pretext for posting there. I may just drop a link under the "Cruise Brochure from 1986 with prices" banner believing that you don't have to be an RCCL passenger to be curious about then and now comparisons.

I'll list the page number in this review so they don't have to read about the Reflection if they don't want to. I am interested in most cruise lines but not everyone is that way. I have no desire (or need as we are already Elite on Princess), to rack up all our cruises on one line. I buy the variety packs of Kelloggs cereal in the supermarket which tells you something.

If anyone reading this posts on other boards and wants to mention the Brochure thing then by all means.

I'll try to make it an informative page-turner and worth the mouse-click.

Norris

[Bimmer09]

JUST YOUR TYPICAL CRUISE PASSENGERS BACK IN 1986

 

 

Back in the days when people didn't board an airplane wearing pajamas and before the advent of the wife-beater tee shirt,hoodies, Nike sportswear for people who had once driven by a gym on their way to buy a Lay-zee-boy recliner and a sack of chicken McNuggets, there were cruise passengers who to this day live on in the modern brochures. These were the parents of those models. Stylish and sophisticated. Steamers were thrown as the ship pulled away from the dock in Miami where all 4 RCCL ships were based. Two of them left every Saturday; Song of Norway and Song of America their new ship and a harbinger of things to come-bigger!

Backtrack to 1985 to keep things in context.....

To say I was enjoying my work and life on the Song of Norway would be to understate the case. I took to it like a duck to water. And why not? I was the son of a cargo ship's Captain and had lived by the harbor in Northern Ireland. Even on a 60 foot trawler in the Irish sea being tossed like a cork I was't seasick. The sea and ships are in my DNA next to the Guinness chromosome.



Unlike most of the crew of 400 on board the Song of Norway I was allowed to mingle with the guests and dined in not only the crew galley but in the MDR and ate the same rich food they did. No wine or beer though as I had to go work after dinner. We were the only band allowed to eat at the pool breakfast buffet as we worked so late at night. The hot buffet was paltry compared to say the Oceanview cafe. Pitiful really with some sausage, bacon, potatoes and runny watery scrambled eggs. But there was fruit and cereal too.



With not much work to do there was plenty of time for sun and fun. I'd play chess, on deck or in cabins and was hard to beat and on-deck scrabble where I beat all-comers probably due to my love of words. I'd play waiters, dancers, deck crew, even passengers if they were watching nearby and were up for a challenge.



During the 13 weeks I was away in the USA we had one week off in October when the ship went to the Bahamas for dry dock and we were put ashore and stayed at the Howard Johnson near the Miami harbor. We got a daily food stipend and enjoyed our time in Miami including evening outings to Coconut Grove which was a hotspot then in the way South Beach is now. When the ship returned there was new carpet and paint and best of all new drums. I had given the cruise director my diagnosis of the old beaten drums and cymbals and he made things happen.I used 3 different drum kits scattered among the show rooms but the disco one was flatlining. Hooray!



During my last few weeks on board I met a girl from New Jersey and when I got off the ship in early November 1985 we met up and spent a weekend at Disneyworld and Epcot and I went home to London intending to return to the USA if offered the chance.



When I came home I found two disturbing things- the guy renting my apartment hadn't paid the rent and my cherished NAD stereo system had been stolen "during a burglary" which I highly doubted. Not a nice welcome home.



The good news was we got offered another contract of 6 months on the SON beginning March 29 1986 so I had a beacon up ahead and this time I might not be coming back to London. I had cruiseship money in my pocket but I wanted a car and called my old company and they gladly took me back! Income!

[Sadebud]

If they are in my "fan club" I hope they are (a) already reading this and (b) fully paid up to date on their dues.

When I have written a bit more of the Brochure ramble I will go on the Royal board and alert the people there to this review. As for the Princess board I don't have a good pretext for posting there. I may just drop a link under the "Cruise Brochure from 1986 with prices" banner believing that you don't have to be an RCCL passenger to be curious about then and now comparisons.

I'll list the page number in this review so they don't have to read about the Reflection if they don't want to. I am interested in most cruise lines but not everyone is that way. I have no desire (or need as we are already Elite on Princess), to rack up all our cruises on one line. I buy the variety packs of Kelloggs cereal in the supermarket which tells you something.

If anyone reading this posts on other boards and wants to mention the Brochure thing then by all means.

I'll try to make it an informative page-turner and worth the mouse-click.

Norris

 

Hi Norris,

 

How much are the dues? I will happily send mine in! Still following...never sailed on SON mysekf but it was a favorite ship of my Grandmother's, and I used to go on her for bon voyage parties back in the day!!! My dad also installed and serviced a lot of the bar guns and ice machines on the ships back then and sometimes he would take us kiddies on a service calls. We roamed the ships while he did his thing...they were great experiences! I also grew up in Miami and our house was on the water, so naturally we had a boat. My Dad would take us down the intercoastal to the port quite often on Sundays and we would watch the ships sail from the water. We would do same at Port Everglades too. Ahhh, the memories! Keep 'em coming!!

 

Cheers,

Tracy

[Bimmer09]

NO BALCONIES,NO SUITES

 

The ship was built in 1970 and was the first Royal Caribbean ship to sail. It was a success and so they built two more;Nordic Prince in 1971 and a smaller ship Sun Viking in 1972. At only 18,000 tons the SON got an extra 85 feet fitted when cut in half in 1978. This 85 feet increased her pax capacity from 724 to 1024 and her tonnage to 23,000. A bold move and one that paid off as she often sailed full although I remember a couple of cruises when there were only 700 pax aboard.

After the stretching she was 637 feet long. Song of Norway was built in Helsinki like the other 3 ships and came along in 1982. She was 37,500 gross tonnes and 703 feet long with more decks stacked on top of each other.



Backstory continued...



Winter 1985 in London and I am missing the sun and fun of Miami but I have a contract for more cruising next March. Neither John nor Geoff want to go back to sea again alas, so Mark in Manchester and I in London will have to get a new band before March. I put another well worded ad in Melody Maker and got some calls. Again I screened on the phone and found a guy who played keyboards and sang but he was from way up north in Blackpool.

He was willing to come down to London to audition. I had a friend who ran a great rehearsal studio in Greenwich with big picture windows looking out on the Thames and it was used by one of my favorite singers of the day-Kate Bush-and that was good enough for me. Mark came down from Manchester, Mike came down from Blackpool and we played together and it was magic. Really exciting to have found him and he was a lot of fun. He got the job and returned home. A couple of weeks passed and I found a guitar player from Wales I liked the sound of on the phone. We all met at Woodwharf studios in London and again everything clicked and we had our band with lots of time left to rehearse about 40 songs and enough smooth instrumentals to go to sea with.



Meantime 210 thick letters were sent from London to Springfield NJ and 170 came back from my new girlfriend. All going well. Her dad had a job lined up for me when I got off the ship in 6 months. We would get an apartment in NJ and I'd apply for a work visa.



I drew up a broadsheet of cartoons of all the stuff I had to sell as I wasn't thinking of coming back to London to live-positive thinking that I had to make happen. I loved what I'd seen of America so far (just Miami and Orlando!) and loved meeting Americans.



I sold furniture, my drums and cymbals, all my record albums etc-anything that I couldn't take with me. It raised a few thousand dollars for the NJ apartment fund.



There was a farewell dinner with close friends I knew I would miss as my flight drew near- I was going out a few days early to Miami to stay in the lovely Holiday Inn on Brickell Point with Lisa from NJ.





ONLY IN BRITAIN....



I had a couple of dental appointments before I left London. I needed a bridge to span a gap in my teeth two of which had been broken. The first time I went to get it fitted the dentist, a very nice lady, got a call to say that the technician's car had been broken into and the fake teeth stolen (I am sure that happens a lot, LOL). My last appointment was at 9 pm on the night before I flew (August 24th). This time the tech called late to slur that he had been drinking and wouldn't make it (only in Britain surely?). It was midnight and my plane was at 10 a.m. The dentist apologized and said she would personally drive me to the airport. Next morning she did! (this stuff could only happen to me!)



Up up and away on March 25 1986!



Oh- I forgot a fun story that happened coming back from Miami in November 85. I was in Miami airport in the public restroom and when I came out I heard my name being paged to the gate for my Virgin Airlines flight to Heathrow. Damn! I'm late! I got to the gate(about 3 miles away-have you been to Heathrow?) to be told that (1) we gave your economy seat away and (2) would you mind if we seated you in Business Class?



Hmmm....tough one. I paced back and forth for what must have been a second before answering in the positive. Leg room! Free drinks! A nice hot dinner and breakfast! Free cigarettes (it was 1985 after all). Best flight ever!





Norris, the charmed lifer

 

 

[Bimmer09]

Norris, just to say thank you for a great review. Just being nosey, but what job do you do these days that keeps you at work such long hours? Do you still play music?

 

Good day to my reader in Kent, a county I am familiar with from trips to Canterbury, Hastings and Bexhill among others. Shout out to Sevenoaks while I am at it! Dover! Sir Winston Churchill's estate Chartwell.

I work in retail for a great employee -friendly company which has 500 stores in the USA, 101 in Canada and no idea how many in the UK. It's an expanding company which has people waiting to get in when we open in the morning while other companies are downsizing here though poor sales. You would know it as Home Sense in the UK.

The President, a very nice down to earth Italian man from Boston, was coming to visit so we had to make it look it's best for him. He was blown away so mission accomplished. He asked us what we needed and pulled out his cell phone and arranged it all right there and then, no humming or hah-ing. Decisive-that's what I like, or is it? Mmmm wait-maybe not! Um yes. I think. I'll have to get back to you...

Norris

[Jasperdo]

First of all, thank you for the excellent (as always) cruise review. I've already marked your Royal Princess review date on my calendar so I won't forget to look for it.

 

Second of all, I'm really, really enjoying your story about life at sea. Fascinating insight into that life. And the brochure scans are terrific. I still have the brochure from our first cruise Carnival in 1991. It's amazing how cruising has changed. We never sailed on the Song of Norway, but we did a 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise on the Song of America in 1997. Was that a sister ship of the Song of Norway?

[Bimmer09]

Norris, just to say thank you for a great review. Just being nosey, but what job do you do these days that keeps you at work such long hours? Do you still play music?

 

I forgot to answer your last question. No. I haven't played since my last night on the Song of Norway in November 86.

Norris, who listens to plenty

[CoatRackOfDoom]

Norris, loving the bonus material! This is like watching an adventure movie and then realizing there's a cache of "Extras" on the disk. 1986, the year I graduated High School ... you can bet I wasn't splurging on any cruises. I did have a friend who entertained on a few ships out of Los Angeles or San Diego.

 

Cheers,

Ed

[Bimmer09]

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!

(continues below if you are reading)

 

 



 

Yes the vittles were a lure. No shopping, no peeling, no cooking, no washing up. The big difference back then was that the meals were scheduled (grab a stiff drink quick....) and there was no dawn to midnight grazing as there was no all day buffet and no cafes. Oh! The suffering!

You could breakfast in the MDR and lunch there, even in port (hooray!). You could breakfast up by the pool on a buffet so tiny it fit on top of the pool bar. Then there was dinner-two fixed seats and no anytime anything. There was a Midnight Buffet for the night owls and a splendid spread it was. So jaw dropping that people were allowed in to take photos before being allowed in to eat. There was the steel drum band playing live to add atmosphere. Cool!





I had three breakfast options (the aptly named Crew Mess and the MDR and the pool buffet), two lunch options (Mess and MDR) two dinner options (as before) the Midnight Buffet and just for me as the Norwegian Night Watchman (security) was very friendly towards me I had permission to use the Officers Mess after work and I often went in there and took out a steak and potatoes dish that was keeping warm for the Night Officers. Count those meals...9 options to eat and I often did 7 or 8 of them in a day and stayed slim. You'll see from the photos I will sprinkle throughout this thing.





Now the food was MDR- not talking Murano here but I was a plate-cleaner which must say something for the provender, surely? The Maitre'd, a wonderful Italian chap called Raimondo had his tiny office by our table and would sit and banter with us when there were no problems to sort out and him being there 3 feet away assured us great service. Also waiters who had been demoted to busboys after some poor comment cards the week before were now sent to the band's tables where they suffered no tips from half their customers (we totaled 18 musicians) and so they had to shine under his gaze to get back to being full waiters again. It was an incentive.





I really enjoyed the dinners-no coming home with a fish and chips wrapped in newspaper anymore-a menu and a man to fill my water glass and get me more bread. Themed nights-on Italian night the waiters wore red and white hooped tee shirts with red bandanas and straw boater hats. The Polish band would stroll around playing Neapolitan songs (O Sole Mio for instance). On French night the head waiters wore Gendarme outfits and the other Polish band played accordions. Talk about setting the mood. What fun!! Plus I am at the table with 3 other Brits who are laughing at my schtick and making me laugh in return.





The Midnight Buffet was mainly cold foods with a salad bar and a fantastic array of desserts. There was also a carvery. I think it was reserved for Formal Nights (?) Ice sculptures were demonstrated by the pool and those swans, dolphins and aardvarks riding horses would grace the super-long buffet line.

Just a wonderful lavish spread to end the day on a high note for those not coming to the disco to hear me beating the drums as loud as I could, sweat and calories running down my face.





At 3 a.m my work was done and it was time to hit the officers mess for a steak and then join my pals out on the crew deck all the way at the stern. The crew shop sold beer in cans-$7 for 24 cans or less than 30 cents each. Smokes were $7 a carton too so I never ran out. We would sit out there drinking beers and laughing our heads off as we were all raised on Monty Python and Fawlty Towers and shared the same sense of humor. We would occasionally hush when we'd see two passengers completely nude trying to make a baby on the Promenade deck above. Either that or the lady was trying to climb over the rail and the man was trying to help her by pushing from behind?

I kid you not and it happened way more than occasionally.





The ship sailed on into the night and I'd never seen so many stars as I lay flat out and relaxed looking up at the sky. It was with some reluctance I went to bed each night/morning. Magical. Living on deck C right up in the bow I was lulled to sleep by waves hitting the bow of the ship. Our cabin had a porthole and it was like looking into a washing machine when there was a swell.





Norris

[jlf1]

FOOD, GLORIOUS FOOD!

(continues below if you are reading)

 

 



 

Yes the vittles were a lure. No shopping, no peeling, no cooking, no washing up. The big difference back then was that the meals were scheduled (grab a stiff drink quick....) and there was no dawn to midnight grazing as there was no all day buffet and no cafes. Oh! The suffering!

You could breakfast in the MDR and lunch there, even in port (hooray!). You could breakfast up by the pool on a buffet so tiny it fit on top of the pool bar. Then there was dinner-two fixed seats and no anytime anything. There was a Midnight Buffet for the night owls and a splendid spread it was. So jaw dropping that people were allowed in to take photos before being allowed in to eat. There was the steel drum band playing live to add atmosphere. Cool!





I had three breakfast options (the aptly named Crew Mess and the MDR and the pool buffet), two lunch options (Mess and MDR) two dinner options (as before) the Midnight Buffet and just for me as the Norwegian Night Watchman (security) was very friendly towards me I had permission to use the Officers Mess after work and I often went in there and took out a steak and potatoes dish that was keeping warm for the Night Officers. Count those meals...9 options to eat and I often did 7 or 8 of them in a day and stayed slim. You'll see from the photos I will sprinkle throughout this thing.





Now the food was MDR- not talking Murano here but I was a plate-cleaner which must say something for the provender, surely? The Maitre'd, a wonderful Italian chap called Raimondo had his tiny office by our table and would sit and banter with us when there were no problems to sort out and him being there 3 feet away assured us great service. Also waiters who had been demoted to busboys after some poor comment cards the week before were now sent to the band's tables where they suffered no tips from half their customers (we totaled 18 musicians) and so they had to shine under his gaze to get back to being full waiters again. It was an incentive.





I really enjoyed the dinners-no coming home with a fish and chips wrapped in newspaper anymore-a menu and a man to fill my water glass and get me more bread. Themed nights-on Italian night the waiters wore red and white hooped tee shirts with red bandanas and straw boater hats. The Polish band would stroll around playing Neapolitan songs (O Sole Mio for instance). On French night the head waiters wore Gendarme outfits and the other Polish band played accordions. Talk about setting the mood. What fun!! Plus I am at the table with 3 other Brits who are laughing at my schtick and making me laugh in return.





The Midnight Buffet was mainly cold foods with a salad bar and a fantastic array of desserts. There was also a carvery. I think it was reserved for Formal Nights (?) Ice sculptures were demonstrated by the pool and those swans, dolphins and aardvarks riding horses would grace the super-long buffet line.

Just a wonderful lavish spread to end the day on a high note for those not coming to the disco to hear me beating the drums as loud as I could, sweat and calories running down my face.





At 3 a.m my work was done and it was time to hit the officers mess for a steak and then join my pals out on the crew deck all the way at the stern. The crew shop sold beer in cans-$7 for 24 cans or less than 30 cents each. Smokes were $7 a carton too so I never ran out. We would sit out there drinking beers and laughing our heads off as we were all raised on Monty Python and Fawlty Towers and shared the same sense of humor. We would occasionally hush when we'd see two passengers completely nude trying to make a baby on the Promenade deck above. Either that or the lady was trying to climb over the rail and the man was trying to help her by pushing from behind?

I kid you not and it happened way more than occasionally.





The ship sailed on into the night and I'd never seen so many stars as I lay flat out and relaxed looking up at the sky. It was with some reluctance I went to bed each night/morning. Magical. Living on deck C right up in the bow I was lulled to sleep by waves hitting the bow of the ship. Our cabin had a porthole and it was like looking into a washing machine when there was a swell.





Norris

Wow!

 

Norris,

 

I am loving this description of days gone by. I can just pictures the ladies gowns and the gent Tues.

 

Where are the cigars?

 

Those brochures look soon.... elegant.

 

Judy

 

Sent from my SM-T560NU using Tapatalk

[Bimmer09]

First of all, thank you for the excellent (as always) cruise review. I've already marked your Royal Princess review date on my calendar so I won't forget to look for it.

 

Second of all, I'm really, really enjoying your story about life at sea. Fascinating insight into that life. And the brochure scans are terrific. I still have the brochure from our first cruise Carnival in 1991. It's amazing how cruising has changed. We never sailed on the Song of Norway, but we did a 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise on the Song of America in 1997. Was that a sister ship of the Song of Norway?

 

Hi, Jasperdo and thanks for choosing Option 2. Yes I hope to see you again in my Regal review due October 22 by which time I'll have my new camera in hand and a better idea how to take good photos. I'm glad you like this addendum-this look into the past from my own personal experience- not as a passenger. I thought I should get it down on paper-it is still fresh in my mind from 30 years ago but someday....?

Nordic Prince was sister to Song of Norway. Song of America was a whole new thing.

Cheers!

Norris

[Bimmer09]

Norris, loving the bonus material! This is like watching an adventure movie and then realizing there's a cache of "Extras" on the disk. 1986, the year I graduated High School ... you can bet I wasn't splurging on any cruises. I did have a friend who entertained on a few ships out of Los Angeles or San Diego.

 

Cheers,

Ed

 

Upon my soul! Lord CoatRackOfDoom my favorite screen name!

I like your analogy of the Movie DVD Extra discs- we always watch those behind the scenes and director's commentary clips.

I'm glad to see you are still reading.

Your humble servant,

Norris

[QuakerBoy]

Norris: thank you for such a thorough, and photographic review. I've been hesitant to bust into your thread, as I didn't want to slow you down. Hope to meet up with you on a big ship going anywhere sometime.

[Jasperdo]

Nordic Prince was sister to Song of Norway. Song of America was a whole new thing.

Thanks. I knew the Song of America was a newer ship, but wasn't sure if it was still the same class as the Song of Norway.