Norwegian Encore - Transatlantic - Day 8
Norwegian Encore - Day 08 - December 10, 2024 - AT SEA
For the second day in a row, I woke up in time to see the sunrise. Less spectacular than the day before, but still a lovely way to start the day.
There wasn’t a lot on the docket for the day and I was looking forward to doing a lot of relaxing.
After breakfast at The Local, I brought my computer out to The Waterfront and found an outdoor couch to hang out on and do some writing.
Air temperature on a transatlantic cruise in December might be surprising. Both times I’ve done it, it has been in 60s and very comfortable on most days. On this morning, I was sitting in the sun and even took off my sweater for a while.
Although I had so much time to do whatever I want, I hadn’t done any crochet since the second day. I wondered if I’d given up on it completely. If I’d managed to download the instruction videos prior to the trip, I thought I probably would have continued, but the written directions for a couple of the squares had me a bit confused.
After sitting outside for a while, I decided to go back to my cabin before deciding what was next.
When I looked at the schedule for the day, I realized that the American Diner had opened. The 1950s style diner is an included food option, but it had been closed up until this point. The draw for me was that they had milkshakes, though they were an extra charge. I decided it was worth it and headed there for lunch. The strawberry milkshake was about $8 out of my onboard credit (so no real cost to me) and tasted like Nesquik, but I was happy with it. The food, on the other hand, wasn’t great. I ordered things I usually wouldn’t choose, so that probably didn’t help. I wouldn’t recommend the smoked fish dip or the meatloaf. The bread pudding was ok.
After lunch and filling my water bottle at the buffet, I headed to my cabin for a nap.
There was another Beatles show that night, but in the theater rather than the Cavern Club. I decided to check it out. The performers were still great, but it’s more enjoyable in the smaller venue. The audience was fairly spread out. There was a man who sat next to me who was trying to bring the energy - clapping and singing and hooting and hollering. He whispered to me “Everyone is so quiet - I feel bad!” I told him I was quiet, but that I could appreciate people like him. He continued to carry on for the both of us.
Before a cruise, there are usually groups through Facebook and Cruise Critic that form for the particular sailing. It’s a way that passengers can interact with each other and come up with events and plans. There are things like slot pulls, white elephant gift exchanges, meet & greets with ship officers, crafting groups, bar crawls, etc. The event for this evening was Gatsby-themed. One group had a whole murder mystery type event around it, but everyone was invited to dress for the occasion, even if it was just for dinner or around the ship. I’d decided at the last minute to bring a costume, but kept going back and forth on whether I would actually participate. The people I’d met thus far weren’t involved. I didn’t have proper shoes and wouldn’t have had space to pack them if I did, so only had some green ballet flats.
Finally I decided that before going to bed, I needed to at least put on the outfit and walk around. The plan was to walk across the 8th deck, the 7th deck, and finally the 6th deck and then head back up to my cabin. On Deck 8, I spied Gwyn, the gentleman from Wales who I’d met earlier on the trip. He was at a small table at the wine bar and I stopped briefly to say hello. He said that he’d seen lots of people dressed the way I was and asked what it was all about. After a couple minutes I continued on my way. I saw people dressed here and there and I play-danced along in the hall as I passed a band playing live music. I’m sure my pace made me look like I was on a mission. I doubt anyone suspected that my mission was to return to my cabin.
No matter, I was proud of myself and felt like I was allowed to go to bed. Mission accomplished!
