My Back To Back Spirit Vacation Diary

[Lotteryfan]

Hello Everyone,

 

The wife and I have just returned home from two fabulous weeks on the Norwegian Spirit; doing a back to back vacation. The first six days were from April 29 to May 5 and we went to Port Canaveral, Nassau, and then to their private island. On the May 5 to May 13 leg of the trip we went to Bermuda, Tortola, and St. Thomas.

I took 12 pages of notes in an effort to create a diary of what we did each day, along with observations, comments, great moments, sad moments, and the like so that I will have a remembrance of this trip and so that you can share with me my adventures.

I will be formulating everything into a multi part recap of the two weeks and hopefully you will all enjoy reading along as I write my diary. Perhaps you will feel as though you were with us for the past two weeks, or perhaps I will make you all look forward to your future Spirit cruises even more.

For now it's time to unpack and get washed up. I will begin creating my diary later this afternoon and will post in many parts. So stayed tuned to this thread...Its going to be exciting!!!!

[cruizinwithkids]

Welcome back. I look forward to reading the details.

[Smellytoes]

I can't wait!

[maurick]

Hello Arthur

 

Welcome home you two! Glad your b2b time on the Spirit was so wonderful.

 

We look forward reading of your 2 week adventure.

 

Our friends are going next Sunday on the Spirit on their honeymoon. I hope to find tips to share with them

 

Welcome Home

 

Maureen

[Seago2]

Saved! Can't wait to hear what you've got to say!

[Lotteryfan]

History: This vacation consisted of my wife, Cyrella, 51, at the time the vacation began, and myself, Arthur, 47, at the time the vacation began. I was originally going to book just the eight day cruise but adding on the six day cruise as a back to back was only a few hundred dollars more per person so I had to jump at this opportunity. The entire trip would encompass both my birthday on May 1st, and her birthday, on May 10th. I had chosen a balcony cabin.

This would be our second cruise on the Norwegian Spirit, having sailed on her a little over a year ago, and third overall, on NCL. Final payment was done on February 13th and I surprised my wife with this present on February 14th, Valentine’s Day. The very next day, February 15th, my travel agent called with an upsell. We could move from the balcony cabin to a Honeymoon Suite, for only $50.00 more a day. I jumped at the chance and then surprised my wife again the day after Valentine’s Day.

Day One- April 29th: We arrived at the pier at about a quarter to two and the Spirit was the only ship at the pier on this day. There were several passenger lines winding through the terminal, including one for latitude members. However, there was one line for “Penthouse and Suite Guests”, as the sign said. Cyrella and I walked right into this area and followed the winding ropes around. We soon realized there was no one on this line as it brought us straight to the front, where we would check in. However, the person working at the front of the line, who was telling people which counter to go to check in, ignored us. After a few minutes of waiting, about 100 latitude members were allowed to check in. I finally mentioned something to the woman and she wanted to know who told me to go to the line that I was standing in. I told her there was sign for penthouse and suite guests and that we had a suite. She made us wait a few minutes more before allowing us to check in. After we checked in we were brought to another woman seated at a table. She was Lisa, our concierge.

She handed us our key cards and started to talk to us about the ship. But since we had already been on the ship before we really knew almost everything about it. She then offered her services to us, and told us about the butler, Jermare. We had explained to her that we really weren’t butler or concierge people but that if we needed anything, we would let them know. I then mentioned about the person who kept us waiting and Lisa told us that she was not an employee of NCL but that she would speak with her.

We were on the ship and in the room by 2:30. We wanted to catch a quick bite to eat before the mandatory life boat drill at 3:30. However, by the time we went to Raffles, which was the buffet area, they were closing up shop. This would be one of my biggest problems with the vacation. It seemed that almost every time we were in raffles, they were putting curtains over the glass sneeze guards in an effort to prevent people from taking food, which enabled them to remove the food. We grabbed what we could, which was some salad, and went back to the cabin for our life vests.

After taking part in the drill, we were back in our cabins and getting ready for the sailaway party, upstairs by the Tivoli Pool.

The ship pulled away from the dock at exactly 4pm and it was time to start the vacation. It was cool and windy but there was a live band playing, Caribbean Plus, such songs as “Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot”, “Hey Macarana”, “The Electric Slide”, and “The Gimme Dollar” song. The cruise ship staff were doing their best to get people to dance with them near the pool.

My wife and I are the complete opposite. While she loves to dance, and take part in every activity, and volunteers for everything, I could just sit all day and just want to be left alone. She was right there dancing with the cruise ship staff. She was the second one on the conga line that worked its way around the deck. I, on the otherhand, stayed on the top deck, overlooking the pool and videotaped her. Hey, like the NCL slogan goes, I am free to do whatever, so I did…whatever. By the end of the two week cruise, everyone knew my wife as “Cyrella”, but I was known as “Cyrella’s husband”. “Hello, Cyrella’s husband.” “Are you heading to the show, Cyrella’s husband?” “Where’s Cyrella, Cyrella’s husband”.

There was a barbeque by the pool, consisting of hamburgers, franks, and chicken so since we missed out on the raffles lunch we ate here. Within an hour the ship sailed passed the Statue of Liberty. I still get a tear in my eye whenever we pass it on the ship and the speakers blare, “God Bless The USA”, by Lee *****. Another short while later and we were passing under the Verrazano Bridge. The cruise staff was telling us to say good-bye to work, good-bye to New York, and hello to vacation.

The Suite: The suite really didn’t impress me that much as I have stayed in suites in several hotels that were huge. This suite was about three times the size of a regular cabin so it did have its advantages that way. We stayed in cabin number 10000, which was the center cabin in front of the ship on the tenth floor. If you look at the front of the ship, there are five balconies, just above the five picture windows. We had the one in the middle. It was the second highest cabin category on the ship, with only the five suites facing the back of the ship being higher.

The suite did have two bathrooms, one of which consisted of a sink and toilet, and the other consisting of two sinks, a vanity area, a toilet, something else that looked like a toilet but I had no idea what it was, a shower, and a Jacuzzi. The one drawback was that there were glass, see-through doors in the shower area, and the toilet area, and there were no door to close off this entire bathroom from the sleeping area. There was just a curtain. We like to sleep with a nightlight on in the bathroom, but because of the curtain, this light would shine on us at night. The suite also had a sitting area, which consisted of a couch, two chairs around a glass table, and another table with four chairs.

There were also two large picture windows and a door to get onto the balcony. After opening the balcony door, there was another door. However, this wasn’t your typical door. Have you seen those movies where a guy on the submarine has to open and close a door by spinning a wheel? That’s what we had to do to get onto the balcony, and there was a large sign telling us that we should open the balcony door only when in port because of the strong winds.

Coming Up: Our first night on the Spirit, as well as our second day, and the definitive answer to the question of whether there are bedbugs on the ship. Thanks for reading.

[AnneNchris]

History: This vacation consisted of my wife, Cyrella, 51, at the time the vacation began, and myself, Arthur, 47, at the time the vacation began. I was originally going to book just the eight day cruise but adding on the six day cruise as a back to back was only a few hundred dollars more per person so I had to jump at this opportunity. The entire trip would encompass both my birthday on May 1st, and her birthday, on May 10th. I had chosen a balcony cabin.

 

This would be our second cruise on the Norwegian Spirit, having sailed on her a little over a year ago, and third overall, on NCL. Final payment was done on February 13th and I surprised my wife with this present on February 14th, Valentine’s Day. The very next day, February 15th, my travel agent called with an upsell. We could move from the balcony cabin to a Honeymoon Suite, for only $50.00 more a day. I jumped at the chance and then surprised my wife again the day after Valentine’s Day.

 

Day One- April 29th: We arrived at the pier at about a quarter to two and the Spirit was the only ship at the pier on this day. There were several passenger lines winding through the terminal, including one for latitude members. However, there was one line for “Penthouse and Suite Guests”, as the sign said. Cyrella and I walked right into this area and followed the winding ropes around. We soon realized there was no one on this line as it brought us straight to the front, where we would check in. However, the person working at the front of the line, who was telling people which counter to go to check in, ignored us. After a few minutes of waiting, about 100 latitude members were allowed to check in. I finally mentioned something to the woman and she wanted to know who told me to go to the line that I was standing in. I told her there was sign for penthouse and suite guests and that we had a suite. She made us wait a few minutes more before allowing us to check in. After we checked in we were brought to another woman seated at a table. She was Lisa, our concierge.

 

She handed us our key cards and started to talk to us about the ship. But since we had already been on the ship before we really knew almost everything about it. She then offered her services to us, and told us about the butler, Jermare. We had explained to her that we really weren’t butler or concierge people but that if we needed anything, we would let them know. I then mentioned about the person who kept us waiting and Lisa told us that she was not an employee of NCL but that she would speak with her.

 

We were on the ship and in the room by 2:30. We wanted to catch a quick bite to eat before the mandatory life boat drill at 3:30. However, by the time we went to Raffles, which was the buffet area, they were closing up shop. This would be one of my biggest problems with the vacation. It seemed that almost every time we were in raffles, they were putting curtains over the glass sneeze guards in an effort to prevent people from taking food, which enabled them to remove the food. We grabbed what we could, which was some salad, and went back to the cabin for our life vests.

 

After taking part in the drill, we were back in our cabins and getting ready for the sailaway party, upstairs by the Tivoli Pool.

 

The ship pulled away from the dock at exactly 4pm and it was time to start the vacation. It was cool and windy but there was a live band playing, Caribbean Plus, such songs as “Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot”, “Hey Macarana”, “The Electric Slide”, and “The Gimme Dollar” song. The cruise ship staff were doing their best to get people to dance with them near the pool.

 

My wife and I are the complete opposite. While she loves to dance, and take part in every activity, and volunteers for everything, I could just sit all day and just want to be left alone. She was right there dancing with the cruise ship staff. She was the second one on the conga line that worked its way around the deck. I, on the otherhand, stayed on the top deck, overlooking the pool and videotaped her. Hey, like the NCL slogan goes, I am free to do whatever, so I did…whatever. By the end of the two week cruise, everyone knew my wife as “Cyrella”, but I was known as “Cyrella’s husband”. “Hello, Cyrella’s husband.” “Are you heading to the show, Cyrella’s husband?” “Where’s Cyrella, Cyrella’s husband”.

 

There was a barbeque by the pool, consisting of hamburgers, franks, and chicken so since we missed out on the raffles lunch we ate here. Within an hour the ship sailed passed the Statue of Liberty. I still get a tear in my eye whenever we pass it on the ship and the speakers blare, “God Bless The USA”, by Lee *****. Another short while later and we were passing under the Verrazano Bridge. The cruise staff was telling us to say good-bye to work, good-bye to New York, and hello to vacation.

 

The Suite: The suite really didn’t impress me that much as I have stayed in suites in several hotels that were huge. This suite was about three times the size of a regular cabin so it did have its advantages that way. We stayed in cabin number 10000, which was the center cabin in front of the ship on the tenth floor. If you look at the front of the ship, there are five balconies, just above the five picture windows. We had the one in the middle. It was the second highest cabin category on the ship, with only the five suites facing the back of the ship being higher.

 

The suite did have two bathrooms, one of which consisted of a sink and toilet, and the other consisting of two sinks, a vanity area, a toilet, something else that looked like a toilet but I had no idea what it was, a shower, and a Jacuzzi. The one drawback was that there were glass, see-through doors in the shower area, and the toilet area, and there were no door to close off this entire bathroom from the sleeping area. There was just a curtain. We like to sleep with a nightlight on in the bathroom, but because of the curtain, this light would shine on us at night. The suite also had a sitting area, which consisted of a couch, two chairs around a glass table, and another table with four chairs.

 

There were also two large picture windows and a door to get onto the balcony. After opening the balcony door, there was another door. However, this wasn’t your typical door. Have you seen those movies where a guy on the submarine has to open and close a door by spinning a wheel? That’s what we had to do to get onto the balcony, and there was a large sign telling us that we should open the balcony door only when in port because of the strong winds.

 

Coming Up: Our first night on the Spirit, as well as our second day, and the definitive answer to the question of whether there are bedbugs on the ship. Thanks for reading.

OH I can't wait!!!! Thank you for this...we leave for the 8 day spirit cruise in a little less then 3 weeks...and last year we did the 6 day Spirit...so this review has me super excited!!!!!!!!! Thank you!!!!!!!

[Seago2]

GREATTTTTTTTTTTTTT

 

It's been a long time since someone wrote a well thought-out, grammatically correct, cheerful review!

[CHIPMUNKSMOM]

Thank -You..... We are going on the Spirit in August this year Fla/Bahamas. Could you post the dailies??

:) :D :o

[rfendt]

Thank you for taking the time to do this for us all. We are currently booked for the 8 day Spirit cruise Apr 19-08 with our 2 kids. I'm looking forward to the continuation of your 2 week vacation! You write so well!

 

Debbie

[jentroubles]

I'll second the request for posting the dailies for the eight day....someone promised to email them before but never followed through:confused: We are on the June 2nd...

[Lotteryfan]

Day One, Continued: After partying for several hours, my wife and I felt that it was best if we took a little nap. This way we could stay up late for all the late night partying. At home, I am an early riser, getting up at 4am for work everyday. By 9pm I am usually exhausted. I would have to get my body adjusted if I was going to stay up late every night. It was about 6:30 as the sun began to set and we set the alarm clock for 8pm. I wanted to put the “Do not disturb” sign on the door but I could not find that thing that goes on the door knob. I figured if the maid, butler, or concierge knocks on the door before 8pm, we would just get up anyway.

And sure enough, the maid knocked on the door, or should I say, she rang the doorbell. I didn’t know we had a doorbell. I answered the door and she apologized when she saw that I was sleeping and then introduced herself. She explained to me that the “welcome” sign next to the door, on the hallway wall, was a dial which also listed the terms, “do not disturb”, “make up room” and “turn down room”. I hadn’t even noticed this thing. I was certainly not used to living like this on a ship.

The maid asked me if she should come back later to turn down the room but I told her that she didn’t have to worry about taking care of the room for us on this night. She again offered to come back later but I again told her she didn’t have to. We decided to get up when the butler rang the doorbell a few minutes later to bring in a fruit basket and a bottle of champagne. I told him that we didn’t order these things but he said they were compliments of NCL. OK! Over the next 14 nights we would receive a different tray of goodies each night. From chocolate covered strawberries, to pate and crackers, to cheese and crackers, to fudge, to chocolates, to hor derves, to smoked fish, more fruit baskets and so on. Living in a suite for the next two weeks was great.

For dinner we got to Raffles at around 9pm, and they, again, were closing up shop. We weren’t that hungry anyway as we grabbed what we could.

Our first show was a comedienne by the name of John Pinney, who performed in the Galaxy of the Stars. This guy was lousy. He kept reading his jokes from a piece of paper and got very few laughs. Afterwards, the band that played in the Galaxy, “Next Stage” put on a good show of upbeat songs like “Celebration,” by Kool and the Gang, “Hot Stuff”, by Donna Summer, and “Holiday” by Madonna. My wife danced the night away with many of the cruise ship staff that she danced with earlier at poolside. I was doing my usual stuff; sitting on a chair and videotaping her having a good time. After an hour of this we went to bed for the night.

Day Two, Monday April 30th: It was a sailing day as we continued to head toward Port Canaveral. In the morning the wife participated in the first of the many arts and crafts activities of the two weeks as she made a beaded necklace. By 11am we were heading toward Henry’s Pub for a visit with our friends on the Cruise Critic role call. It was nice meeting some of the people that we had been corresponding with before the cruise began and we would run into many of them at different times during the next five days. The funniest line I heard all week was when a couple, Dennis, and Gail, told me that when they got off this ship later in the week, they were walking right over to the Dawn and taking its one night cruise. They said they couldn't wait to see the expression of their faces when they show up with four pieces of luggage for the overnight trip.

At 1pm it was the Latitudes Party for latitude members. We got to meet the captain for the first time, as well as some of the other important people like engineer, food and beverage manager, hotel manager, and other people like Myles; the port and shopping expert, Romeo, the future cruise consultant, and the art auctioneer guy. There was a raffle and people won prizes like free internet minutes, tote bags, a certificate for $50.00 off any art purchase, and a free photograph. We didn’t win anything, however.

At 4pm it was time for my first Bingo session, called; “Free Card Bingo”, in which one free card was given to everyone that walked through the door. Each bingo session had a different name, and a different gimmick. It was either double raffle bingo, triple raffle bingo, power bingo; where they doubled the number of cards you wanted to play, family bingo; where kids could play along for a small amount of money, free cruise bingo, and jackpot bingo, to name a few.

It was during the third game of this bingo session when something truly amazing happened. We were playing the pattern of the capital letter “T” in which you needed all the squares in the top row and all the squares in the “N” column called to win. I was one number away on my power hand set and I needed “B14” to be called. The next number to be called was “B14”. I knew I was a winner and yelled out, “BING” but I did not yell out the full word because my power handset did not tell me I was a winner. Dave, one of the cruise staff, who was standing near me, told me to yell it out loud. Apparently, a few seconds later, the bingo caller punched in the number into the computer and the handset said I was a winner so I yelled, “GO” to add to the earlier “BING”. I won $130. Not bad although it cost me $75.00 to play. I was given a printout and told to get my winnings in cash at the casino cage window. If I remember correctly, last year the cruise staff were crediting on board accounts with the winnings. Same thing with the krack-its; those pull tab things that have anywhere from $1 to $2,000 winners. Last year, you could have your on board account credited immediately but now you had to go to the casino cage to collect your winnings. A few people were annoyed that they were being forced to go to the casino to collect. In the package of krack-its that I purchased in this bingo session, five for $20.00, I had a $5 winner, along with the four $1.00 winners. I think it was a major find to have a $5 winner when 99 percent of the tickets contain $1 winners.

At night, the wife wanted to do Karaoke in Henry’s Pub. Luckily there weren’t too many people in the bar to scare off. She sang three songs, “Tomorrow”, “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” and did a duet with Pedro, the Cruise Staff DJ on “American Pie”. We even met one of our Cruise Critic buddies there, Lynn, who sang a few songs also.

Cyrella and I then caught the 10pm showing of “Retro Active”, a show by the NCL Production Corporation. There were about a dozen singers and dancers performing songs from the 1970’s. Last year this show was called, “On The Radio” but for some reason they changed the name. Maybe to prevent people from realizing it was the same show as last year? What’s next? Changing the name of the show, “Bollywood” on the Dawn?

Unfortunately, we could not stay awake any longer and retired to bed at around 11pm; a major accomplishment for me.

Coming Up: My birthday, Port Canaveral, Nassau, and the private island.

[Seago2]

Thanks again! There is so much to do on the Spirit.

[regal2]

i was on the may 5 cruise to bermuda,tortola and st. thomas.

i am a gold lattitudes member who did not recieve any of the

perks and did not meet the conceirge until tues. may 8 at the

lattitudes party.

embarktion : when i arrived at the manhatten terminal i asked

several of the grounds crew where to sign in as a lattitudes

member. they told me to line up with the rest of passengers.

cabin : i had an inside cabin on deck 5. cabin 5063

the cabin is large with a large bath room. the cabin was well

maintained by 2 room stewards.

restraunts : the buffet restraunt raffles seem to have the best

selections. the main restraunts : windows and garden food selections were fair at best and i only ate there twice.

entertainment : they had a great variety of singers at different

lounges and the shows with second city and the juggler were

great.

weather : the first day at sea was cold and wet .

the second day was in bermuda and a gale was blowing with rain.

all i did was shop in hamilton and dockyard.

the rest of the week was great!

tortola, b.v.i. :the least interesting island. did the best of tortola

excursion. it was boring. we stopped at cane garden bay to

swim. the beach is small and water merky. what a disapointment.

st. johns : did the st. johns beach escape. went to truk bay beach.

far superior to cane garden. clear water and great fish variety when snorkeling.

in short the ship is great , the weather ok , the excursions too short to enjoy. but for $1400 for one person i can not complain.

[nyyleeroy]

Ummmmm...this bedbugs thing has me a little nervous. Wife and I are leaving on the Spirit Saturday (no suite - just a lowly BA). Gonna stay glued to this thread, and thanks Lotteryfan for what is (so far) a great review.

[Maryfrei]

something else that looked like a toilet

 

Maybe a bidet?:o:confused:

 

Arthur, I'm having so much fun following your diary! Thank you so much:)!

[cruizen53]

Ummmmm...this bedbugs thing has me a little nervous. Wife and I are leaving on the Spirit Saturday (no suite - just a lowly BA). Gonna stay glued to this thread, and thanks Lotteryfan for what is (so far) a great review.

 

Hey NYYLeeroy, We had a balcony 9566 No bedbugs found here!!!!!!!! Everything I read made me a little worried. Fear not everything was great. Only 2 negatives I found, Excursion on kings wharf was cancelled do to weather. you had to find your way around on your own. (confussion)

2nd was the rude,passengers who could not follow instructions, and couldnt wait in line. I couldnt believe how clean everythig was with all the people. hope yours will be as good as ours. Ken:D

[lnemup]

I also was on the 5th-13th on the Spirit. While I thought that it was a decent cruise, I dont think it holds a candle to our last on the Dawn. I had heard the food was going to great, and honestly I didnt like most of it. Entertainment was decent,cabins were clean. Enjoyed the cruise,but as I said prefer the Dawn. I am sure you saw us red shirts (Delaware)at some point lol

[ace6636634]

Enjoying the review :)

[JerseyMom]

Very well written.

 

14 days on the Spirit - I am sooooo jealous.

[FR926]

We are doing a 15 Day cruise on the Spirit Nov 3, 2007 a Repo from NY to New Orleans. I look at as a B2B for less than a 7 Day Cruise.

[newhope]

We were also on the May 5-13, Spirit. We had 9708 an AA. The people at the port embarkation were as described. Not a big deal, but there was no line for "suites" until we had already checked in and gone through security. Still it was only 1/2 hour. On the Dawn last year it was much

better organized.

 

I though the food, in general, was good. We only went to Cagneys and Shogun (twice each). The remainder was in Windows. I did not care for Le Bistro the last 2 times we were there - different ship. It is my opinion that Le Bistro is more flash and substance. BTW, the t-bone in Cagneys is great.

 

Sorry, bed buggers, did not find any on board.

 

The entertainment was decent for a cruise ship, not great. The jugglers were fun. The singer was good but classically trained. I'm not sure that an opera aria goes all that well on a cruise. Most of his songs were from Broadway. His Old Man River was very good. The NCL production crew, were very energized, with great costumes, but not close to being Broadway ready.

 

Agreed, the weather in Bermuda was lousy.

 

Lisa Meyers was full of smiles and helpfulness.

 

Our butler, Christina was always friendly and wanting to do things for us. However, we are not big on being waited on.

 

The room steward, Ricardo, was excellent - always smiling and meeting your every request.

 

The ship was clean and most employees were smiling and friendly.

 

I made the final table in the Texas Hold-Em tournament. Sadly, my pocket Aces were cracked by a set of fives. Oh well, thats poker.

 

The most amazing thing about the trip was the debarkation. We got a VIP invite to debark, and met in Henry's Pub. We arrived at the Pub at 9:40. At 10:00 we were on the New Jersey Turnpike. I know it was Sunday, but still am filled with awe.

[Lotteryfan]

Day Three, Tuesday May 1st: It was my birthday today and we celebrated it with Shamu at Sea World. Now we’ve been to all the central Florida theme parks many times, including Sea World, and although we know that there won’t be much time actually spent there, we figured if we catch all their shows, we’ll get our money’s worth. We’re not amusement-park-ride people so its just shows for us. During the six hours at the park we are able to catch six shows. They include the Shamu show, the Seymour and Clyde seal show, the dolphin and whale show, a show called Pets Ahoy which has dogs, cats, birds, ducks, and mice doing tricks, a show called, Odysee, which is a Cirque de Sole type show and a Sesame Street show. There were three buses going to Sea World on this day and we were on the first bus to leave for Sea World and the last bus to leave from Sea World. We planned it out just right.

Back on the ship by 6pm for sail away at 7pm. For the first time we ate at Windows for dinner. I had a delicious New York strip dinner. I enjoyed it so much I ordered a second helping. Then I was surprised by a few waiters who brought me a small cake and sang, “Happy Birthday” to me. It was a very nice dinner. Being on the ship for the next cruise, I checked the Windows menu everyday for the New York strip steak and eventually found it on one of the last days and made sure I was eating in Windows that night.

After dinner we went to the Stardust Theater to see the 9:30 showing of Sharkbait. They were two guys who were former clowns and they did a comedy and juggling act. They were really good. They had the audience laughing and applauding with their schtick. They even pulled a few people from the audience and teased them with their juggling act. This was where the second most strangest moment occurred on the vacation. We were sitting in one of the first few rows and one of the guys from Sharkbait asked one of the guys sitting in the audience about three quarters of the way up to toss a hat that he would catch on his head. We didn’t pay no mind to the guy in the audience because we didn’t want to turn our backs all the way in the chair. After the guy in the audience successfully tossed the hat onto the head of the guy from Sharkbait, he was asked his name. In a deep voice, the man said his name was “Roxy”, which the guy from Sharkbait made fun of because he had a female name. My wife leaned toward me and said, “That’s funny. We have a next door neighbor by the name of Roxy and he is a guy also.” Since I don’t associate with any of my neighbors in my building, I paid no mind to this.

At 10:45pm up on the Tivoli Pool deck, it was the Caribbean Party. You had people from the bar staff doing all kinds of tricks with liquor bottles and glasses. But it was very windy and many of the bottles were being dropped. Several of the waiters attempted to carry trays on their head with glasses full of liquor but the wind made sure that the waiters got wet. What a waste of liquor. Then it was time to ask for about a dozen female volunteers and you know my wife just had to jump up there. Then they asked for three male volunteers. They wanted the female volunteers to dress up the male volunteers as women for the Miss Norwegian Spirit contest. About a half hour later the three males were paraded out. My wife was upset when her male didn’t win.

Day Four, Wednesday, May 2nd: Today it’s Nassau in the Bahamas from 7am until 3pm. The wife and I are booked on the “See and Sea” excursion. We line up on the pier with our group that is going on this excursion and then the absolute, single, most strangest moment of the entire trip occurred. My wife noticed a woman that looked familiar to her. My wife approached her and said, “Are you one of the servers on the ship because you look very familiar?” The woman responds, “No. I’m your next door neighbor.” Can you believe that? We travel over a thousand miles and come face to face with our next door neighbor who is on the same ship as us during the same week. Since we don’t talk to them, other to say ‘hello’ as we pass each other in the hallway, it was very strange to meet them. Everyone standing around us couldn’t believe what had just happened. So it WAS our next door neighbor that participated in the Sharkbait show the night before.

After a long walk from the ship to another area, we boarded a small boat that wasn’t a “glass bottom boat” as promised in the excursion description. We motored out into the water and were shown the beautiful beachfront homes of Oprah Winfrey, Mick Jagger, and wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin among others. We were also told about the history of the island as well as some interesting facts. About a half hour later this boat pulled up along side of another boat that was floating in the water. It was this second boat that was the “glass bottom boat”. However, the boat consisted of windows that you could look out. Several of the windows were covered with a massive layer of algae which prevented you from looking out. Also, many of the seats were in poor condition with padding that had been partially ripped off, and they oversold the excursion, meaning quite a few people were left standing, or sitting on the staircase, without clear view of a window. I wondered what the maximum number of people allowed on board was. I could just picture it now: a thread on Cruise Critic about a “glass bottom boat” sinking with many people drowning, while on a cruise ship excursion.

We saw many kinds of fish, some coral, parts of a ship wreck and several rubber tires (Don’t ask me why) Over all, the excursion was nice but it had been promised that the fish would be fed and they weren’t. I would have liked to see that. In the meantime we were talking with our neighbors and getting friendly with them.

After about 45 minutes, the original boat that took us out to the “glass bottom boat” came back to pick us up. We had about an hour to go shopping before we needed to get back to the ship. We made up to meet with our neighbors for dinner at Windows. The ship sailed away from Nassau as it prepared to head toward its private island, Great Stirrup Cay for a 7pm arrival.

That afternoon I caught the 4pm Bingo session. Guess what? I won again. I was now two for two. This time I needed “O61” and got it. The win was for $134.00. Unfortunately, I would play another eight times during the remaining week and a half and give it all back and more, as I didn’t win again.

That night at Windows, I was not impressed with any of the entrée offerings but I remembered from Cruise Critic that I could order grilled chicken any night so I ordered that with a baked potato. We had a great time with our new friends.

Next up: a nighttime visit to the private island and then we head back home…well, not for us, anyway.

[rfendt]

very well written. Am anxiously awaiting the next chapter. Thank you again for your time with this! :)

[AnneNchris]

Keep it coming!!!! Your review is wonderful...I love the way it is written...whoohoo...I am getting so excited!!!!:):)