Nassau, Friday November 25, 2011

We didn’t dock until noon so we went to breakfast and went to look at photos. This ship has some of the coolest technology.  The photos are all done by facial recognician.  They have carosels with folders by deck and then by cabin and all the photos taken of you or of those in your cabin are in that folder regardless of where on the ship they were taken.  That is really nice.  They also have touch screens by all the elevators where you can enter a cabin number or public room name and it will tell you how to get there from where you are.  The elevators however were almost always overcrowded and so the boards should have had alternate routes as well.  The kids went to play chess and shuffleboard. Soon we were off the ship and trying to find our ride which took about 20 minutes but it all came together and he had reserved us a room at the Royal Towers in Atlantis which was really nice since we didn’t have far to walk to the slides and areas the kids wanted to do. This gave us wristbands with total access to the entire property. The air was cool and it was cloudy off and on but Teresa and the kids had a blast. Paige said she would give Lindsay $1 if she would do the shark ride…bribery works because she did it! They love it here at Atlantis but you would need to be here a week to do everything...but Teresa and the kids tried to cover everything they could in 5 hours.  We got back to the ship with time to spare and started packing and then headed to dinner in the Manhattan dining room which had a band with a singer and a dance floor. Dinner was good and Teresa and I had a couple drinks and it took the waiter so long to go get them we were worried he had passed away (he was very old or at least appeared to be) but the food was good and we all enjoyed it. On NCL you pick your time to disembark and in turn must go get your own luggage tags. We did that on the way back to the cabin and finished up the packing and turned in. Lindsay and I watched as we came into Miami this morning at 5:15 AM and then went back to sleep for an hour before we had to get up and get ready to leave.  We are now at the airport waiting to head back to Atlanta. It was a great week and as Chris says “it was the best cruise so far!”. 

The kids enjoyed their ride back to Atlanta in first class but were more excited to see Daddy when he picked us up from the airport.  They talked all the home in the car telling him everything they did....they were sad it was over but happy to be home with Dad again.

Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all our family and friends. Its another beautiful day at sea with smooth seas and lots of sunshine. I forgot to mention in previous postings that Paige is like the rock star on this cruise that has a following. Every time we walk somewhere kids are shouting her name and she just looks at me and says “she’s just a friend of mine” too funny. Last night when we came to the cabin to get ready for dinner someone had left a message and wanted her to come to their cabin for a sleep over…really? We did meet this family on our excursion in St. Maarten and ran into them again while shopping in St. Thomas. These cabins are so small why would you want to add another kid? Geez. Anyway today Paige is going to rehearse for the kids talent show with one of her friends, Chris went to the rock climbing wall while there isn’t a line and Lindsay went to walk with mom so it is quiet here for now. Tomorrow we are in Nassau and will spend the day in Atlantis and Saturday morning back in Miami. It is hard to believe that it is almost over already. I am extremely grateful to have had this time with Teresa and the kids. Chris loves this ship for all there is for him to do but generally I think it is a good ship for families. The main thing I don’t like is the cabin layout and I wouldn’t cruise this ship again without the kids for that reason. I love the specialty restaurants although it adds to the cost of the cruise for a family.

The talent show was cute and Paige did some good cartwheels. She and two other little girls danced to Kung Fu Fighting and did some acrobatics. Chris played basketball almost all day. Teresa watched some of the football games on the big screen at the back of the ship and the kids watched the Nick Live Poolside show and mostly stayed around the pool all afternoon. Everyone had the same idea to eat Thanksgiving dinner in the main dining rooms and the wait was over an hour. The service was awful when we did finally get seated and Chris didn’t like his steak so I took the girls and went back to the cabin as they both have colds now and were tired. Teresa took Chris to the buffet which is where we should have all gone. Paige was asleep before Teresa and Chris came back and shortly thereafter we were all asleep.

 

St. Thomas

I have to write these things as I remember them because Debbie is not here to remind me of the things I forget. One really nice feature of these cabins is the reading lights have a blue night light in the base which illuminates just enough for you to be able to get around at night without turning on a light, Also the phones have a clock set to “ship time” and they also have a speaker phone and has caller ID…impressive. We were the first to arrive here this morning and the captain did a splendid job turning this monstrous ship around and backing into our spot. I got Lindsay up to watch and she was unimpressed and went back to bed! I just fixed some coffee and will go watch the other ships take their turns.We have been so lucky with the weather and after watching the Disney Magic, The Eurodam and Grand Princess come in we were off the ship and in a taxi to Magens Bay with thousands of our closest friends and shipmates….every square inch of sand was occupied I believe. After being in the taxi that was involved in we shall call it an “altercation” with the local police we paid him and quickly moved away from the situation. The kids enjoyed playing on the beach and the girls got their hair braided. We headed back to town about 1 PM and it was good we did since the 15 minute trip from the ship turned into a 45 minute trip to the ship due to an accident in the road. Chris wanted to buy something with his money and Teresa needed to find a pharmacy where she could get some more cold meds for the kids. Debbie and I had been to the pharmacy previously so I knew where that was so after Chris made a purchase, I took the kids and started walking back to the ship…it was 88 degrees and we were now three ships away from the Epic. While we were gone the Carnival Glory and Freedom of the Seas filled the two spots in front of us. We actually had to stop under the RCL tent to be in the shade for a minute to continue the trip. We finally got to our ship and they had ice cold towels and cold water waiting for us with lounge chairs to rest in under the tent…just like Celebrity Debbie! Nice touch NCL and even the kids were grateful and rested before we got on the ship and headed to the cabin. We went to Moderno restaurant last night which is the first Churrascaria at sea. The kids loved the idea of having this little card to turn over from red to green to signal you were ready for more. It was very good but the best part was Lindsay’s friend from the pool (Jo and her family) were seated at the table next to us. The kids chatted and decided they all wanted to go Recess together…. for the first time Teresa and I got to do grown up stuff..woohoo.! We went to the casino and lost then decided we were going to the Ice Bar. That was a hoot. They give you these parka’s and gloves to put on and two tickets for drinks in there but you are only allowed to stay for 30 minutes…it is 17 degrees in there! We determined it was like a meat locker that they had revised to add a few things but they actually had TV’s in there..I don’t know how they keep them working. We left there and went to the piano bar and had fun. We went to pick up the kids from Recess and Lindsay had just checked herself out. We obviously were able to drink enough between dinner and our two hours without the kids to be somewhat impaired because when I woke up this morning the cabin looked someone bombed the place. I also remember waking up and taking some Advil in the middle the night. It was a fun day and the kids had a good time at the White Hot party in the kids area as well. Hopefully when we get home I can post some of the pictures that Teresa took.