Cruising
Posted: Sat May 10, 2014 6:05 pm
Am back and happy enjoy to be back and will be happier once I'm finally fully 'home' in my home in Canada. I did leave for a 3 week cruise from Tampa Florida going about the Caribbean and arriving back in Boston MA. Last 3 days were nothing but cruising. Was a bit concerned the open Atlantic might be a bit choppy but the entire trip was smooth sailing with mega stops in multiple countries.
As for actual sailing life it is like living in a huge self contained hotel with your every whim catered to. Food is 24/7 in both restaurants or buffets and the cruise I went on was called "Free style" which means in cruise lingo you can basically eat whatever whenever, dress casual or not, attend whatever events you want. Nothing is scheduled or obligatory.
This was my first time sailing with Norwegian Cruise Lines and while it was fantastic IMO the ship did not come up to the standard of Princess Cruise Lines that I've sailed with before. Nothing major difference-wise just a smaller ship. There were almost 2300 passengers (2200 adults and 87 children) and 1100 crew. The Captain was from Croatia, Chief Engineer Switerland, Hotel Captain France, Cruise Director Australia, Head Chef India and Head of Security Nepal. Most of the Cabin Stewards were from Phillipines and/or India but the Wait Staff came from everywhere - Belize, Kenya, Peru, Grenadines, St Lucia, Bermuda etc. 60 nationalities are represented on Staff.
Activities do go 24/7 and do give you LOTS to do. Have to admit I didn't attend any of the 'fun' type activities i.e. Newly Wed Game, Family Feud, Trivia Quizzes, Poker or other card playing tournaments nor did I go to the Casino but I did go non-stop to the talks, lectures, nightly extravaganza musical shows. Talked talked talked and talked lots more to the other passengers (oops - "GUESTS" People are no longer passengers. We're now GUESTS of the cruise line) too and met quite a few really interesting people. The A/C in the library seemed to be stuck on high making the library so cold virtually nobody sat in there to read. Probably my only criticism of the actual ship.
Most of my days started at 8am with breakfast - any type of hot or cold cereal you could want, bacon/sausage/eggs/hashbrowns to made to order omlettes plus all the fresh fruit/cheeses and cold sliced meats you could want. Lunches and dinners were equally lavish and anybody would have been very hard pressed to not have found something to their liking food-wise. The choice was to go to any of the buffets OR opt to go to any of the on-board restaurants where you'd order off a daily changing menu and be served.
Nightly entertainment was terrific and ranged from piano players to singers to full Broadway type shows.
On days the ship docked (always by 8am) I opted to eat brekkie at 8am so all those involved with Ship sponsored tours (visits to cultural sites, eco adventures (ZIP lining and scuba diving were BIG) could get off and on with their travels. I'd disembark 9am-ish and usually opted to walk about the town for a couple of hours. I'd return to the dock area and then take up with a local private tour group as typically you had to be back on the ship by 5/6pm. Lots of shore time. These averaged $20 to $25 for 2 to 3 hours of being driven around whichever island with stops at all the known tourist locations. The one exception was St. Maarten where the asking price was $110 (I declined) and opted to spend my afternoon (we docked at 1pm and stayed to 10pm) exploring the town and sitting at their wonderful beaches (2 lounge chairs, 1 umbrella and 5 or 6 bottles of beer for ALL DAY for $20) Not being a beer drinker I was lucky enough to find thatched roof shade for a few hours when I wasn't taking pictures and walking about of the afternoon. The other exception was Curacau which was so phenomenally interesting and I spent so much time walking the streets I literally ran out of on-shore time to take a tour BUT I know I'm going to be back to Curacau soon as I can organize ME to get back there!
Have to say this was my first "Re-positioning" cruise of this duration. I've cruised before but always only for a week or 8 days so wasn't sure if I'd enjoy this long or not but I did and have to say this is a terrific way to explore out future destinations to come back to for longer. Curacau, Belize, Honduras are definite come back to places. Grand Cayman was opulent, beaches marvelous, hotels totally grand but not sure it holds a super amount of interest for me as a tourist. Aruba was a real eye-opener as it was totally rock and desert and cactus. Holds minimal to no interest for me as it was Spartan and bare (you'll see the photos when I get them going). Mexico was/is Mexico. I'll head back for holidays as vacations there are super cheap all-inclusives that give great relaxing time. The Virgin Islands being American protectorates are just smaller versions of the USA.
All in all I had a really relaxed and fun time. Ship life is good, very inexpensive, very clean, lots of sanitary procedures in place (prior to entering any restaurant and when returning to the ship there is a Waitress who will spray your hands with sanitizer) and they really do 'do it all for you.' You get to meet lots of interesting (and some boring) people but like being in a hotel how much you mix is up to you. You could eat every meal and do every activity solo and nobody would notice or comment OR you could social butterfly your way through the cruise.
I will say that of the 11 or 12 Ports we stopped in there was NO HASSLE to the tourists. Quite unlike Egypt. Sure there were lots of guys yelling about their own wares or tours but nobody was at all aggressive or pushy or stalking you for hours trying to get your $$. Most of the places had prices posted (none in Mexico as I personally believe they make up prices as they go based on what they think you'll pay but typically do quickly come down to a reasonable price as part of the haggling bargaining experience). Nobody in Belize or Honduras yelled or touted at all. They simply sat quietly in their stalls or booths and watched as you shopped and most prices were posted. The entire shopping experience was all well within reason.
Once I get my photos downloaded (Windows 8 is insisting I download to the Cloud but then is only letting me download 137 photos then telling me my Cloud is FULL! AGH!!!!!!) will break my posts into countries and will talk a bit about each specific country + pics
As for actual sailing life it is like living in a huge self contained hotel with your every whim catered to. Food is 24/7 in both restaurants or buffets and the cruise I went on was called "Free style" which means in cruise lingo you can basically eat whatever whenever, dress casual or not, attend whatever events you want. Nothing is scheduled or obligatory.
This was my first time sailing with Norwegian Cruise Lines and while it was fantastic IMO the ship did not come up to the standard of Princess Cruise Lines that I've sailed with before. Nothing major difference-wise just a smaller ship. There were almost 2300 passengers (2200 adults and 87 children) and 1100 crew. The Captain was from Croatia, Chief Engineer Switerland, Hotel Captain France, Cruise Director Australia, Head Chef India and Head of Security Nepal. Most of the Cabin Stewards were from Phillipines and/or India but the Wait Staff came from everywhere - Belize, Kenya, Peru, Grenadines, St Lucia, Bermuda etc. 60 nationalities are represented on Staff.
Activities do go 24/7 and do give you LOTS to do. Have to admit I didn't attend any of the 'fun' type activities i.e. Newly Wed Game, Family Feud, Trivia Quizzes, Poker or other card playing tournaments nor did I go to the Casino but I did go non-stop to the talks, lectures, nightly extravaganza musical shows. Talked talked talked and talked lots more to the other passengers (oops - "GUESTS" People are no longer passengers. We're now GUESTS of the cruise line) too and met quite a few really interesting people. The A/C in the library seemed to be stuck on high making the library so cold virtually nobody sat in there to read. Probably my only criticism of the actual ship.
Most of my days started at 8am with breakfast - any type of hot or cold cereal you could want, bacon/sausage/eggs/hashbrowns to made to order omlettes plus all the fresh fruit/cheeses and cold sliced meats you could want. Lunches and dinners were equally lavish and anybody would have been very hard pressed to not have found something to their liking food-wise. The choice was to go to any of the buffets OR opt to go to any of the on-board restaurants where you'd order off a daily changing menu and be served.
Nightly entertainment was terrific and ranged from piano players to singers to full Broadway type shows.
On days the ship docked (always by 8am) I opted to eat brekkie at 8am so all those involved with Ship sponsored tours (visits to cultural sites, eco adventures (ZIP lining and scuba diving were BIG) could get off and on with their travels. I'd disembark 9am-ish and usually opted to walk about the town for a couple of hours. I'd return to the dock area and then take up with a local private tour group as typically you had to be back on the ship by 5/6pm. Lots of shore time. These averaged $20 to $25 for 2 to 3 hours of being driven around whichever island with stops at all the known tourist locations. The one exception was St. Maarten where the asking price was $110 (I declined) and opted to spend my afternoon (we docked at 1pm and stayed to 10pm) exploring the town and sitting at their wonderful beaches (2 lounge chairs, 1 umbrella and 5 or 6 bottles of beer for ALL DAY for $20) Not being a beer drinker I was lucky enough to find thatched roof shade for a few hours when I wasn't taking pictures and walking about of the afternoon. The other exception was Curacau which was so phenomenally interesting and I spent so much time walking the streets I literally ran out of on-shore time to take a tour BUT I know I'm going to be back to Curacau soon as I can organize ME to get back there!
Have to say this was my first "Re-positioning" cruise of this duration. I've cruised before but always only for a week or 8 days so wasn't sure if I'd enjoy this long or not but I did and have to say this is a terrific way to explore out future destinations to come back to for longer. Curacau, Belize, Honduras are definite come back to places. Grand Cayman was opulent, beaches marvelous, hotels totally grand but not sure it holds a super amount of interest for me as a tourist. Aruba was a real eye-opener as it was totally rock and desert and cactus. Holds minimal to no interest for me as it was Spartan and bare (you'll see the photos when I get them going). Mexico was/is Mexico. I'll head back for holidays as vacations there are super cheap all-inclusives that give great relaxing time. The Virgin Islands being American protectorates are just smaller versions of the USA.
All in all I had a really relaxed and fun time. Ship life is good, very inexpensive, very clean, lots of sanitary procedures in place (prior to entering any restaurant and when returning to the ship there is a Waitress who will spray your hands with sanitizer) and they really do 'do it all for you.' You get to meet lots of interesting (and some boring) people but like being in a hotel how much you mix is up to you. You could eat every meal and do every activity solo and nobody would notice or comment OR you could social butterfly your way through the cruise.
I will say that of the 11 or 12 Ports we stopped in there was NO HASSLE to the tourists. Quite unlike Egypt. Sure there were lots of guys yelling about their own wares or tours but nobody was at all aggressive or pushy or stalking you for hours trying to get your $$. Most of the places had prices posted (none in Mexico as I personally believe they make up prices as they go based on what they think you'll pay but typically do quickly come down to a reasonable price as part of the haggling bargaining experience). Nobody in Belize or Honduras yelled or touted at all. They simply sat quietly in their stalls or booths and watched as you shopped and most prices were posted. The entire shopping experience was all well within reason.
Once I get my photos downloaded (Windows 8 is insisting I download to the Cloud but then is only letting me download 137 photos then telling me my Cloud is FULL! AGH!!!!!!) will break my posts into countries and will talk a bit about each specific country + pics
well actually it is part of 'Carnival' since it was hived off P&O shipping the UK company that was sold to the Saudi's. Your comments about Belize and Honduras not being pushy may well have something to do with the fact that both were once part of the British Empire at one time (well British Honduras that is). 
