JUNE 2010 WE CELEBRATED ON THE NORWEGIAN JEWEL TO NASSAU

The horror story of trying to get aboard!
After a few nervous days in New York awaiting confirmation, we caught the Long Island Railroad to the City, then a cab to the Dock.

Due to the trouble we endured for over a year, it was a such a relief to see this comforting sight. Even better, we had valid boarding passes as well as our passports firmly clutched in our paws.

But we found the ship was actually smiling as if to welcome us aboard.






All these people, and look who is the happiest? I couldn't understand why we were the only ones having a good time. I get that the security line is a pain, but it DOES mean you are about to go on VACATION! There was ONE more happy camper, but he is behind the camera. I hadn't yet begun to annoy people asking for pictures of us to be taken.
No this sign does NOT mean Bartender serving drinks over here, DAMNIT.

HOWEVER, they sure could have used one. Of course my mind was already drifting back to boarding Windjammer ships and having a tray of FREE RUM SWIZZLES while we checked in.

I had to laugh at the people who were trying to move ahead of the line. One woman was literally dragging her feeble mother to the front of the line, telling people that she was old and needed to board sooner. Another guy had 2 canes to help him slowly hobble to the front of the handicapped line too. By the end of the cruise, I saw him carrying drinks in each hand, and both canes hanging off his arm. The Sea air must be a MIRACULOUS CURE-ALL!

We were tied up across from the Aircraft Carrier Intrepid. The flight deck is covered with interesting planes of fame. I think it warrants a closer look on another visit.





After the long ordeal of getting here, we could finally fit right in with shipboard life and order up some FOO-FOO BOAT DRINKS!

Soon the Manhattan Skyline was slowly slipping by us.


Lady Liberty wished us a safe voyage as we passed her. Soon we approached the Verrazano bridge and headed for the open ocean.

We bid a fond farewell to Sallyland off there in the distance.......

We took no time settling in and marking our territory.

Time to get the party started.
This is "Dixie Normus" one of the activities mates. She is attempting to organize the Pub Crawl. Naturally we were 10 min. late so I asked one of the guys near the edge of the crowd if this was it. He was taken aback and replied "Yes, this IS the Pub Crawl. Are YOU going with US?" Yep. He rolled his eyes towards his friends, smirked and said "Then you better go see her". We were too late to get nametags but she checked us off and nodded to the bartender. He dropped a shotglass of whisky in a beer for each of us. We could see they were preparing to move to the next bar. To the surprise of the 20 somethings we didn't bat an eye, looked at each other chugged 'em both down and joined the parade.

Each bar had a different Drink of the Day and activity. First was a Karaoke bar and then came musical chairs.
After 3 more bars, drinks and games we ended up in Spinnakers Lounge on the topdeck to pop balloons between bodies. By now our active participation had gotten us acceptance and NAMES. We had boarded wearing shirts that the stewards on Windjammer wore hoping to find kindred sprits. On the back is a picture of the Polynesia where we 1st met, and Windjammer across the butt.
"Windjammer and Lady Windjammer" stuck for the remainder of the cruise.
Except for an event called WHITE HOT NIGHT ON NCL, where everyone was only supposed to wear white.


The cruise directer nearly fell over laughing when "The Blues Brothers" showed up in black.
He insisted on photos to send back to the home office.

Happy 31st Birthday at their specialty Steakhouse, Cagney's
Later we danced until 2am. and since it was an "at sea day"....... slept in late. I'm so glad we upgraded to a window or we may have not gotten up at all.


First stop was Port Canaveral Florida where I saw this familiar looking sail. This is also where we first felt the magnitude of the number of people on board and the need to plan better.

Here is the beach they bussed us to. Kind of a gray day to start with but it was warm and a bit muggy. The water was quite chilly though.

It's across the street from The world's largest surf shop, Ron Jon's.
The ship had offered group surf lessons with them for $110. We declined and considering thflat cold water it was a wise choice. Especially since there was another company in the same building offering PRIVATE lessons for $40.





Vacation Photos and Information