Somewhere in the Atlantic…..just off Cuba
Apr. 12…Saturday
Up earlier than I like and we got checked out of the condo and on our way to Miami. We decided to go down the west coast of Florida and then over “Alligator Alley” to Maimi. We stopped in Naples and found a Costco to get some gas. Gas is $3.40+ a gallon where we have been. Over alligator alley, and we only saw a few alligators. I think we were expecting it to be “lined” with alligators. We arrived in Miami, found our hotel for the night (no easy task) and got checked in. Jack and Sue returned the car to the airport, which was an adventure in itself. After they finally found the car rental return they had to wait over an hour for the shuttle to return to the hotel. We had dinner at the hotel restaurant “Schuckers” which was fairly decent.
Apr. 13 .. Sunday
Ahhh…cruise day has arrived. We hauled our mini mountain of luggage out to the front of the hotel to catch the shuttle to the port. WAIT! Where are all these other people going? There was over 50 of us for this shuttle…and I am looking at this mini van that was suppose to take us. Not only would our luggage not fit, but the people weren’t going to fit either. AHHHH --- there is more than one van…whew!
We arrived at the port along with the rest of the world…this ship holds 2500+ passengers and it is full. We couldn’t get to our stateroom so we did what comes naturally…we ate! This is our first cruise with Norwegian and it is very different from Princess and I think we are going to like it. First of all, NO FORMAL NIGHTS! Second, it what they call “free-style” cruising…you can eat when ever you like, do what ever you like, when ever you like, no schedule. Hmmmm. The Norwegian Pearl is the ship we are on and it is just a year old. Very beautiful and BIG – 965 feet long to be exact and can cruise up to 25 knots! There is even a bowling alley on board!! And, a rock climbing wall, etc. Just about anything you want to do in the form of entertainment is on board. Jack checked out the gym, Suzi checked out the casino and I checked out the pool area and the internet café. But actually, I have internet in my stateroom….how cool is that?
We got into our stateroom around 2:00 p.m. and got somewhat unpacked. And this time we did something really dumb when we booked our cruise. The person we booked with suggested that we book rooms across the ship from each other so we could see different things from the different side of the ship. DUMB! We aren’t in our rooms that much and we really like being next to each other so we can open up our balconies and it is just more convenient. We will know better from now on!
Anyway, after the mandatory evacuation life boat drill, we all decided to go to the “Sail away” party up on the pool deck. What fun! Suzi and I even got in the conga line! Had our usual sail away drink and just enjoyed the day.
We decided to have an early dinner so we could catch the show tonight. I don’t think any of us was that hungry, but we ate anyway. (Do you see a trend beginning here?) Then off to the show. It was an over view of all the lounge shows…and very good. After the show Al went back to the room, I explored the ship for a while and Jack and Suzi went to the Casino. We will be at sea until Wednesday so no use to rush into doing anything on the first night. This cruise is 19 days long and we are at sea for 8 of those days, which is fine…lots of time to rest.
April 14, 2008 Monday
Our first day at sea…and the sea last night was so smooth you couldn’t tell you were sailing. We passed the coast of Cuba this morning. Now, at 10:45 the sea is beginning to act like it should with a few rollers, but not bad at all. We have had our breakfast (what??? We weren’t going to pass up that chance to eat!) and now Jack is at the gym and Suzi and I are going to go for our walk around the ship to try and lose a ounce or so we can eat some more! More later….
Later……Well, Suzi and my walk around the ship this morning was side tracked by a bingo game getting ready to begin. Of course, we had to play. Suzi won the first game! I won a beach bag! After that we went to find the guys. Al was in the room reading and Jack was still at the gym, but our tummies were saying that they knew lunch was on…so off we went to eat—again. After lunch Al took a walk and Jack played Trivia; Suzi and I found ourselves in another Bingo game…we didn’t do so well at this one.
Dinner tonight was at the Teppenyaki (say Beni Hana) specialty restaurant on board. There are 11 of these type of specialty restaurants on the Pearl. After dinner, which was outstanding, Al decided to go back to the room, while Jack, Suzi and I went to the show. Tonight’s entertainment was a sensational singer, Lumiri Tubo. She sang just about anything you could want….show tunes, gospel, disco, dance hits, etc. And I will say she was fabulous. She had one of the better voices I have ever heard. After the show Jack and Suzi took off, I decided to walk around the deck. I could see Cuba off the starboard side and another cruise ship off the port side. All day the sea has been as smooth as glass….can’t ever remember being on a cruise this smooth.
Cortney – a note for you here…guess what I found for sale on board. MY CLOCK!!! And no, I didn’t buy it, but it is tempting.
And for Kali…I have met several people from Shreveport on this ship…are there any old people left in Shreveport, or are they all here?
Speaking of old people, there are very few young people on board this cruise. We are attributing that to the length of the cruise, and the time of the cruise. There are only 19 people under 18 on board!
On that note, I am going to turn in for the night….more tomorrow.
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