A Quick Trip on a Norwegian Cruise

 Eldy is always full of surprises...He'd been busy doing a lot of research like he always does, and decided Sparky needed to get away during her fall break from school, from the endless round of doctor appointments, scheduling and side effects battle. So he planned a four day cruise to the Bahamas, using as many points as he could for airfare and a bargain rate for a really nice ship cabin--a balcony "club suite" cabin on Norwegian cruise lines  (NCL) on the ship Norwegian Getaway, for less than 500.00 a person. Without getting complicated about package deals, we got a beautiful cabin with one complimentary expensive restaurant dinner, and 50% off a second restaurant dinner, all gratuities paid for, a drink package and more. Eldy used to be a cruise agent many years ago, and he has been on MANY different cruise lines, Norwegian being the first time. He chose the Norwegian Getaway for an affordable option for us.

our cabin #13322

The balcony...which is very narrow...

If you have never cruised, it would be too difficult to explain all the ins and outs, advantages and disadvantages of special deals, different cruise lines, etc. so just know Eldy worked his magic and off we went. We spent the night before at a hotel in case of airlines snafus and to be ready to board the next day....

Here are some impressions of our Norwegian Getaway (that's the name of the ship) cruise as a seventy plus years of age couple: 

Every cruise has its party side...people who love to drink, relax, get a little crazy, dance and get down. The party people are usually found hanging out at the pool area and there are several bars there to accomodate them. In our younger days, we would have hung out there and done some line dancing, or boogeying off to the side, but the nightlife didn't get going until 10:00 and later, and we are long past enjoying that (although Eldy enjoyed the constant bathing suit "show" haha) but we could be found usually on the "quiet" side of the ship, the opposite side where there were nice lounging chairs and sofas and where it was a great place to read a book or snooze and where it was QUIET.  

The "free" or complimentary restaurants and the main buffet, the Garden Cafe, were average food, nothing to write home about. They get VERY crowded. If you went to the buffet early or late you could avoid the crowds and lines which really get busy during peak times. Hand sanitizer was offered as a spray at entrances to the buffet during operating hours. There were hand washing stations as well at the buffet station.There were tons of options for food choices, and the breakfasts were wonderful and really varied. However, we have experienced better dining options on other cruise lines that were much better. We ate at one specialty restaurant called Cagney's steakhouse. It was OUTSTANDING and probably the best meal of the whole 4 day cruise. Eldy had prime rib, Sparky had a small filet with a wonderful wedge salad.

The second specialty dining restaurant we tried was called Teppanyaki. The food was good, but the atmosphere was LOUD. The usual Japanese steakhouse has the grills, you sit around the table communal style, the chef cracks jokes, does a lot of fork and spatula spinning complete with a dizzying display of dexterity, cooks your meal in front of you, then you get the usual soup, salad, fried rice, and steak, chicken or shrimp. Here, the grills on board the ship were back to back, with two chefs tightly working behind each other in about a two foot narrow space. If they weren't careful, they could bump butts, it was that narrow! This restaurant decided to go with singing and clanging utensils in a football stadium type rhythm OFTEN. Think 4 or more chefs clanging their cooking utensils all together, singing/yelling "WE WILL, WE WILL ROCK YOU!" CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! banging on the grill in rhythm....and periodically, choosing other well known songs from the 70's and 80's while banging their utensils in unison, hoping patrons would join in, along with the other chefs, which they did..."This chef is on FIRE!" and more.... There were a few jokes interspersed among the banging and clanging. Sparky's Apple Watch went off twice warning about decibel levels damaging her hearing, which she couldn't hear what the chef was joking about anyway, there was so much noise/singing/banging/clanging all around the small restaurant. The chefs really were enjoying themselves which added to the lively atmosphere. Very different fun experience but not great for the hearing. BUT--The highlight was the salad was a fantastic seaweed salad that was positively delicious but very small portioned. That was the best part of the meal, and the Wasabi cocktail which Eldy had. 

There were only two ports of call on this cruise. The first was Great Stirrup Cay which is a private island owned by Norwegian Cruise Lines. The second call of port was Nassau. Because Sparky was experiencing significant problems needing close proximity to facilities, and there was a LOT of long walking distances once getting off the ship, which were problematic for the both of us, Eldy with a bad hip and the aforementioned problems Sparky was having, we stayed on board. Those smoothed out by the end of the trip! Wouldn't you know.....

Some of the cool/fun things we saw or did....Participating in the initial "sail away" where everybody goes out and lines the decks to watch leaving the harbor...

Sitting on the balcony watching a rainstorm blow in and out, leaving a unique rainbow in the distance....

Watching how people choose to spend their time on board...

Noticing the architectural features on the ship...Cruise ships are usually decorated very elegantly.

Looking towards shore with a different perspective from the 13th deck....

Returning to Miami

Noticing the small things that make a cruise a little more special for some...

On our last day, disembarking day, we had a snafu. We got up super early, and if you carried your own luggage, you could plan on getting off the ship starting at 7:45. At 6:45, we were on the seventh deck, in a line of about 50 people standing and waiting. It would be just a few minutes until the line started moving toward the gangway exit. Sparky felt like something was missing. She looked down and NO FANNY PACK which she wears all the time. No wallet, no passport, no money, no driver's license, NADA and NO getting off the ship without it. She went into full blown panic mode--grabbed the room key card from Eldy and started to retrace her steps. Where could the fanny pack be? Did it come unclasped from her waist somewhere on one of the elevators? Which one? Which one to try? A crew member suggested going back to the room and starting from there. Sparky was on the verge of tears and panicking BIG TIME. She got off the elevator at the 13th floor (hmmmm, unlucky number?) and ran to the room, meeting the room steward at the door. Wild with fear, she said she forgot her fanny pack, the steward pointed to the desk counter and asked if that was it. YES!!!!! She grabbed it and could have hugged the room steward but there was no time. Apparently, she never had put it on, having thrown on the backpack instead and left the purse on the counter. She ran back to the elevator and back down to the 7th floor. By this time, the long line had progressed to moving to another location, and a forlorn looking, sort of pissed off Eldy was waiting patiently, but he didn't say a word, (which was a blessing), and off we went to wait in another line. WHEW! We got off the ship without further problems, and Ubered to the airport.

All in all, it was an enjoyable trip...although we would not pick this particular ship again...There were some frustrations with the disembarking process, (not involving Sparky haha) it was very disorganized, the food was just so-so, our room was missing basic supplies when we arrived, service at the complimentary restaurants was very slow, experiences for our age group seemed to be limited. The positives were the staff was SUPER nice, super friendly and helpful wherever we were on board. It was great to get away from our little apartment for awhile, and again, Sparky did not have to think about hospital visits, testing, infusions, or appointments at all! We would definitely go on a cruise again sometime, and if you ever want any help planning the best prices and flights for your own special trip, Eldy would be happy to offer his expertise and advice on how he does it.  

             Bye for now!                 Sparky and Eldo