Norwegian Epic - Transatlantic - Day 2

DAY 2 - THURSDAY - 12/8 - AT SEA

Day 2 felt like it lasted many, many days (like this post will feel). At one point I felt like I was doing nothing, but I actually packed a lot in - including multiple naps.

I got up at 9:15. I was hungry, but I wanted to go to a meetup with the people from the Facebook Group at Cagney’s at 10. I figured I could eat after.

There were quite a lot of people at the meetup, maybe fifty or so. I had some conversations with individuals and we also went around the room introducing ourselves.

There was a gentleman who had originally booked the cruise with his husband, but his husband had passed away recently and now he was on his own. There was a woman who was treated to the cruise by her daughter for her 80th birthday. There was a couple who was on their 110th cruise. There was someone whose sense of humor I appreciated when he declared that he and his wife were on their 111th cruise.

By the time we got through all of the introductions, I was in desperate need of food. While others continued to chat, I excused myself.

Although there is no lack of food on a cruise, I learned on this one that 11 am and 3 pm are two of the worst times for it. I went to the pub, O’Sheehan’s, which is open 24/7, but when I got there they wouldn’t seat me, saying it was between breakfast and lunch. I went to the Garden Cafe to have a salad (green!) to tide me over until I could have a burger (which was what I felt like having) at O’Sheehan’s.

I went to my cabin, grabbed my camera, and headed to the 15th deck. While I was taking photos, it started pouring rain. I noted that the pools were closed, but the hot tubs were open and empty and decided to go to the cabin and head either to the gym or hot tub.

Once I was in my cabin, though, I got tired and lazy. I started watching a movie I’d downloaded to my computer and fell asleep.

When I woke up, it was hot tub time. It was chilly and windy and I had to tie my bathrobe and towel to a railing and wedge my flip flops in them so they wouldn’t fly away. (By the way, when you first board a cruise ship, ask your steward for a bathrobe! There’s no charge as long as you don’t take it with you when you leave.)

I had a hot tub to myself, which is ideal. Most people don’t seem to like them if the weather isn’t great, but I love it. The colder it is out, the better it feels, right?

While I was there, a group of four kids got into a bigger hot tub close to mine. There were three boys and a girl. After a little while, the girl climbed out of theirs and into mine. She was about ten years old, I’d guess. She started making conversation. She was home schooled. She was bummed there weren’t more kids on the ship. She was bummed the water slides weren’t open and kept looking to see if that had changed. She wondered if I liked pina coladas or Shirley Temples better. She wondered if she was talking my ear off. Basically, she was the best kid I could hope for, if one must join me in a hot tub.

She got out to check on the water slides. I decided to get out when I saw a man coming to join me. I had re-started the jets many, many times and I had prune fingers.

I went back to the cabin and got dressed. It was 3pm and, as you now know…cookie time! So I went up to Garden Cafe and got cookies and coffee.

I felt like having a cocktail, so I got a Moscow Mule, which happened to be the drink of the day - discounted to $9. I brought it to my cabin to drink on the balcony. I didn’t get a drink package and had given myself a budget for cocktails, which would allow me to have one to two per day. I assumed I’d be alone most of the time and I’m way less likely to drink when I’m alone, so it made sense to me. As it turned out, I spent most of my evenings with other people and enjoyed some drinks. If I did it over again, I’d get the drink package.

Norwegian has something called “free at sea”, which includes a drink package that you pay only [their estimate of] gratuities for - something like $22/day. Most drinks are $10-15 each, so if you get two drinks per day, it’s worth it. If you have a drink package, you can order two drinks at a time. Officially you’re not supposed to get drinks for others, but that’s not enforced. I made some generous new friends who would add drinks for me. I’ll pay it forward in the future.

After my balcony cocktail, I think I took another nap?!

I went to Manhattan Room to have dinner on my own when it opened, at 5:30. I hoped to be out by 6:30 so I could go to the Solo meetup and see if any of my new friends were there. I had beef barley soup, which was too salty. I had the grilled Mediterranean vegetable salad, which was one of the best things I ate. The server was funny and attentive. He brought me the dessert I ordered (an after eight mint chocolate mousse) and a second one I hadn’t ordered. He looked at his watch when I ordered the mousse and I understood him immediately. I said “If it’s available before 8, that is!” He was satisfied by that.

I went to the meetup, but didn’t see Terri or Adam. Andy and Silvia were heading to Cagney’s (a specialty steak restaurant) for dinner. I sat with Marcy and Paulina for a bit, but they were complaining about things for a good long time. They had valid complaints, but I needed to get back to my vacation, so I excused myself.

I went on my own to Headliner’s, the ship’s comedy venue, to see a show. It was amusing. The comedian, Chris Bliss, ended his set with a juggling act that was timed to Golden Slumbers. Impressive and fun. Found it online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wjSHn2UHHM&t=55s

After the comedy show, I realized I still had time to hit the gym. So I did! Then I showered and headed to the Cavern Club for a Beatles show, which started at 10:30.

Throughout the cruise, there were several Beatles tributes scheduled. My Day 1 plan was to try to see all of them. Why not?

Why not was that the Cavern Club was fairly small and didn’t fit nearly as many people who would like to go. (There were also some Beatles shows in the big theater, which accommodated way more.) When I arrived, there were no seats and a lot of people were standing. I spotted Adam sitting at the bar and headed his way. We chatted a bit with another woman sitting at the bar until the show began. It was fun, but I couldn’t see much and vowed to get there early next time.

After the show, I headed back to my cabin.

For many people, it wasn’t the most pleasant day on the sea with the rain and the wind. The capacity of the ship is around 4000 passengers. There were about 1800 on board. I’m not sure how many people were sick in their cabins, but I don’t think it was a small number. There were bags conveniently available by the stairs on all the decks. Luckily, I avoided seasickness for the duration of the trip.

I was a little over-tired and cranky, so after checking out the next day’s schedule (which is left in the cabins each evening) and writing a bit, I put myself to bed.