We had the best night’s sleep we’ve enjoyed…well, I was going to say “since we were home”, but sleep was fairly elusive that last week at home, so I’ll just say it was the best sleep we’ve had in a long time. The mattress is perfect for both of us (I’m not quite sure how NCL managed that), and the sheets are not so slippery that they are discombobulated when we awake. Superb!
My hand washed slacks and shirt were fully dry by this morning. What a system!
Breakfast hours in the Windows dining room today were from 8am to 10am, so we didn’t feel rushed. G left the cabin before I did and the nice thing that NCL does is scan our ship’s card before we are seated, so that they were able to tell me, after they scanned my card, exactly where G was seated (and the waiter taking me to the table was able to address me by name, asking me “Mrs. Fish, how did you enjoy your first day on the Norwegian Spirit?” Royal Caribbean has a similar system and it leaves a nice impression.
Our waiter at breakfast was Armand from Albania, and when I tell you we’ve already completed one of NCL’s cruise hero cards on him (indicating stellar performance that made a difference in one’s cruise), you’ll know we had the friendliest service imaginable. G had the eggs Benedict (and said they were the best he’s ever had on a cruise ship, very fresh and soft) and I had several kinds of fruit (again, the presentation was beautiful) and oatmeal with soy milk.
We were determined to cover the ship today, top to bottom, forward to aft, to figure out where everything is located. On the passenger cabin decks, the carpet is shades of blue with thousands of little fish swimming in the same direction on it and all we have to remember is that the fish always swim toward the front of the ship. (We call walking to the back of the ship, “swimming upstream”). On the public spaces deck, it’s a little trickier, but I’m quite proud that, by tonight, we knew exactly which way to go to get to every venue, and, most importantly, which way to turn after we get off an elevator. My ship map is nearly dog-eared already, but can probably be retired tomorrow.
It was actually kind of fun for us to explore together, and it was also very rare for us to spend an entire sea day together. We spent a lot of time talking with fellow cruisers that G had already met yesterday. I have no idea how he does that.
It a truly stunning moment, we were walking down the curving staircase in the atrium and I heard someone ask, “Are you Pescado?” I. Was. Gobsmacked. And that’s how we met blog reader Maria and her husband Allen and we stood right there and talked for the longest time (and eventually our husbands were carrying on their own conversation and Maria said that Allen didn’t usually do that and I said G always did (he could talk to a wall)). They travel at least as much as we do, and have been to many more places than we have, and she blogs too (Maria, don’t forget to send me a link to your blog if you haven’t by the time you read this). She had been surprised when she read that we were going to be on this ship at the same time they were, and recognized G from his photos in my blog. She and her husband are two of the more than 25% of passengers who are doing B2B cruises on this ship. And she told me I look much younger in person so naturally she is my new BFF. ;-)
One of the places we couldn’t wait to see was the bridge viewing room. This is an a small area, a museum of sorts, that is down a small circular stairway below the Galaxy of the Stars lounge at the very front of the ship. This room contains lots of memorabilia and photos of the ship being built at a shipyard in Germany. On its walls are the plaques that are gifted the ship when it makes its maiden calls at ports all around the world. And one entire wall is a window looking into the bridge (and at the view of the sea beyond the bridge, basically the bridge webcam view). I suppose for the bridge officers it’s a bit like working in a fishbowl, but it’s a rather unique opportunity for passengers to see the bridge in action.
We returned to the Windows dining room for lunch (I had salad and a different kind of shrimp pasta than yesterday). We continue to be amazed by the menus, the food and and presentation, but found out today that there are just two different dining room lunch menus and they alternate. If I’m still not sure if the dining room will be open for lunch on port days but, with only port days remaining on this cruise, I’ll have plenty of opportunity to find out.
The afternoon was spent out and about much like the morning had been. Frankly, we stopped walking around today only when we sat down during our meals. We found a restaurant called the Garden Room that has the same menu as the Windows dining room (they share a galley), but with a more casual atmosphere (shorts are fine at dinner). That’s a nice offering but it’s not for us. It’s a little too crowded and noisy; we prefer the more formal dining experience and the ambience of the Windows dining room.
And speaking of formal, tonight was the closest thing NCL has to a formal night. It’s called Norwegian’s Night Out, and we did see one man (not my husband) in a tuxedo. Really, it was an ‘anything goes’ experience. I wore my formal outfit, G dressed in black pants and a black collared shirt and we fit in fine. We did have our photo taken with the captain, quite a handsome guy. They get younger every year, don’t they, much like doctors?
We are only going to eat at one specialty restaurant this cruise, and booked the steakhouse (Cagneys) for 8pm tonight. It was an a la carte menu for us, since we didn’t get it for free as a promotional offering or loyalty perk. I would put it on par with the Crown Grill on Princess. I was able to have a wonderful seafood platter in lieu of a steak; G had a filet mignon and we were both very pleased.
The first production show of the cruise was performed tonight, called World Beat. Parts of it were excellent, other parts were good. The African drumming music (which I love, and have hours worth on my iPhone) was a favorite, as was the Greek dancing. It’s hard for me to compare it to Princess. It was superior to what’s performed on the Pacific Princess but less impressive than what is shown on a larger Princess ship (and, I’m sure, the largest NCL ships). The ability to provide a higher quality of production show with more set changes and costume changes is one advantage of larger ships. The sound in the Stardust Theater still bothers me. We may sit in a different area next time to see if it’s better.
We move clocks ahead an hour overnight (to 7 hours ahead of EDT), but, thankfully, don’t arrive in Mykonos, Greece until noon tomorrow, and stay until 8pm. You know that’s my favorite kind of cruise schedule!
A Greek islands cruise on a beautiful ship with excellent food and a friendly crew.
Life is soooo good. :-)
