SP and I had not yet had breakfast in the main dining room, so we decided to start our day in Taste (one of the three main dining rooms on Escape) with a sit-down breakfast rather than the buffet. This prepped us for a day of exploration on shore and then activities back on-board... read more
On day 3 I woke up this morning not feeling so great. Not sure if it’s something specific that I ate or just a consequence of so much indulgence, but I really did not want to do much. I went up to the Garden Cafe buffet, picked out some of SP’s favorites plus some chocolate milk and peach yogurt for myself, and brought SP some breakfast in bed... read more
Day two started out like most, with breakfast but after that we packed a lot in. Read about our meals, the entertainment (tease - we loved it!), and more on the Norwegian Escape, and reach out in the comments if you have any questions. Now, off to breakfast... read more
With such a busy week, I hadn’t packed a thing yet. I had set aside some items in a Rubbermaid tote that I knew I wanted to take with me, then last night, I went to see Lady Gaga in concert at the Amelie Arena. Pretty fantastic show. Once I was back home, I started packing. Once I was done packing at around 12:45am, I went to print out my documents for the cruise. Surprisingly, because it was now December 2nd, the day of the cruise, my documents were no longer available to print. I knew this wouldn’t cause much of a problem at the port, but I would have liked to have something in hand just in case. I got about four hours of sleep before waking up to drive down to Miami to start the Escape... read more
It's almost December, so I can take some time off and plan some vacations, and with the hurricanes bearing down on the Caribbean at the end of last summer, I think not many people wanted to book cruises. Whether they were concerned about ports being operational or unsure if there would be more storms late in the season, I’m not sure. But their hesitancy is my gain. With the reduced public interest in cruising and an already quiet time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, I was able to book a balcony cabin on NCL Epic for a crazy low price. Then prices kept coming down, so I invited a friend of mine to join me on NCL Escape to share a balcony cabin. You read this right… I’m taking two cruises in December on NCL, and for your entertainment, and Billy’s envy, I’ll be live-blogging them here on CruiseHabit.com... read more
The last day of any cruise is a sad one, but to us, it’s a bit easier when the last day is a port day as the distraction of going ashore keeps us from dwelling on the inevitable. On the final day of our Nieuw Amsterdam sailing we found ourselves visiting Half Moon Cay, Holland America Line’s private island in the Bahamas. We enjoyed the tropical paradise, thought about how it compared to other private islands, and then went back onboard to absorb the last hours of what Nieuw Amsterdam had to offer us this cruise, including dining in the Pinnacle Grill... read more
Sometimes we cruise to enjoy the destinations, the activities, and the entertainment – other times we cruise for the sake of leaving our cares behind. Today’s sea day on Holland America Line’s Nieuw Amsterdam was one of those days we just wanted to look around and bask in the enjoyment of doing nothing. Don’t worry, we still managed to do something, or else we wouldn’t have much to write about… read more