Reflections of My Travel

While I really haven’t been tremendously fond of the “freestyle dining”, I very much like the “freestyle disembarkation”. They don’t kick you out of your room. The pools, bars, and eateries are left open. You get to choose when you want to get off the ship. If you are carrying all of your luggage, you can leave anytime after 7:45. If you choose to check your luggage, you choose the time block that you want to depart, get the colored luggage tag that corresponds with that time, and go when they call your color. It was nice to have a stress-free finish to the cruise. My biggest complaint with cruises has always been that you are pampered all week and then kicked to the curb that last morning. It was wonderful to have a more leisurely transition back to reality. We met up with S&W for an early breakfast and then went back to our room and laid in bed watching TV while they went back to their room to pack. When they were ready, they called us and we met up at the gangway. We did stand in line for a bit because of a problem that shut down customs but it really was our easiest disembarkation to date.

My final review of the Norwegian experience: fabulous ship, accommodations, and amenities; first-class buffets; too-fancy-for-my-tastes menus; not-so-great service; superior disembarkation process. The entertainers were outstanding but I was a bit disappointed that the cruise director wasn’t part of the entertainment like on Carnival. Oh, and towel animals… a joke. Overall, a very positive experience and we’ll definitely cruise with NCL again. 

Outside the terminal, we caught a shuttle to the car rental location, upgraded our reservation to something big enough for two more people and their bags, and hit the road. The drive was full of fun conversations, stories, and laughs. We took our time, made a couple stops, and had a nice lunch when we got to Orlando. We then dropped our luggage at my sissy’s, found a hotel for S&W, returned the rental car, and crashed my cousin’s Halloween/anniversary party with strangers. Hopefully, S&W had a good time. It was one of my cousin’s best parties to date and we had a blast. Sadly, we left super early due to exhaustion from the long day and anticipation of another long day driving home tomorrow.

This was the first morning that we purposely met up with S (W had fallen asleep after getting up ridiculously early for a fitness class) for breakfast. We were in port at Norwegian’s private island so we took our time getting around. After open tender service had started, we four met up to head to the island and scope things out. None of us knew exactly what to expect. When we got over there, we found a picnic table to lay our stuff down and the boys headed straight to the beach volleyball courts. S and I decided to explore a bit so we walked around to the right (east? north? Who really knows) side of the island.

clumps of little checkered snails all along our walk

We went all the way around until we were facing Carnival’s private island and found a very quiet beach. There were only a handful of people there as opposed to the hundreds of folks in the water where the tenders came in.

tarantulla looking crab

alien looking crab

Since it is insanely hot and humid down here, and I was wearing my long sleeved shirt in order to avoid sun exposure, I readily submerged myself in the lovely water.

trying to pet the fishy

Before long, S joined me and the two of us floated around a bit in the rocky shallows.

S floating with carnival's island in the distant background

We were even joined by one of the dancers from the ship and we got to talk to her for a while about what it’s like to be a part of the entertainment crew on a large cruise ship. When it started to look like the weather was going to change for the worse,

pearl, parasail, and precipitation - oh my!

S and I headed back to the main area to start looking for our respective boys.

my boy is so easy to find

There was a ridiculously long line to tender back to the ship so we decided to rest in the shaded hammocks and wait for the crowds to subside.

S&W holding down a hammock

me and hubby hammocking

Good choice on our part.

birdy in the tree

We made it back to the ship about an hour before leaving port and headed our separate ways to get cleaned up and rested. We then met up again for dinner and the shows. The main show tonight was a twofer: the comedy of David Naster followed by the comic juggling of Sharkbait.

sharkbait finale - sean on a unicycle juggling the clubs as max tosses them

Great, great show all the way around. We four then headed up to see the adult improv show that The Second City put on but I found it a bit disappointing. Considering what a great improv comedy troupe they are, I really expected the adult-only show to be hugely entertaining. It was a little “meh”. We then headed to the comfort food diner for a late night second dinner where the decision was made that S&W would hitchhike to Orlando with us tomorrow!  Before heading to bed, we had an impromptu photo shoot.

me and hubby

possibly my favoritest photo of us ever

me and S - golly she's tall!

us four

For a day at sea, today ended up being a very busy day for us. Instead of breakfast, we headed to the theatre this morning to see the virtual tour of the ship’s behind the scenes areas. Most of it was far too technical to hold my attention but I did find it interesting to learn more about the crew’s living arrangements. When we headed up to the buffet for our breakfast/lunch afterward, we ran into S&W and enjoyed a nice meal together. We then parted ways so that hubby could catch the juggling class

hubby juggling low

hubby juggling high

that Sharkbait was putting on while they went to a fitness seminar. After the juggling, we went to the theatre to catch the crew talent show, which was surprisingly great. The finale, “Fountains”, caught me completely off guard and cracked me up. We rested a bit, had dinner, and went to a lecture by the comedian David Naster on why we have to laugh, even (or especially) during the rough times. It was a great (and funny) talk. We then caught the late show: “Garden of the Geisha”. It was a singing/dancing show but it focused on the two acrobats so we both actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Hubby even declared it the best non-comedy show he’s seen on a cruise ship yet. From there, we started to rush up the stairs to the adults-only Liar’s Club show and we ran into S&W on the stairs on our way up. While hubby found us some seats, us three made a quick dash to check out the chocolate buffet. 

chocolate sculpture

reflection of S taking pic of chocolate sculpture

ice swan

chocolate sculpture

chocolate sculpture

ice dolphin

Luckily, I’m not much of a chocolate person so there was nothing on the whole buffet that tempted me.  S&W got a few treats and we heaed back to watch the Liar’s Club with hubby and then we all stuck around for the adults-only Quest Game.

Wow. What a great time! This was a sort of scavenger hunt sort of thing. We got into teams (us, S&W, and another couple) and they called out either objects or scenarios that we needed to run up and present to them on stage. We all know that I carry the kitchen sink in my purse… but who the heck carries a purse around on a cruise ship when all you need is your room key to make purchases? We really had such a blast. There were guys wearing lipstick and bras, chicks wearing mens’ pants and shoes… just so much fun.

After that, the fun just kept coming with a toga party in the bowling lounge. 

S striking a toga pose

hubby feeling a little "dress"y

hubby and me lounging in our greek gear

Having never been to a toga party, it was fun to learn how to make one and watch everyone trying to dance in them.

towel animal of the day: who the heck knows? no, really. what is that supposed to be?!