Norwegian Epic - Transatlantic - Day 7

DAY 7 - TUESDAY - 12/13 - AT SEA

Act III, I suppose?

I woke up at about 5:30 and couldn’t get back to sleep, so I went to Garden Cafe when it opened. I had corn flakes. One breakfast down, one to go.

At 9:15, I met up with Adam, Terri and Fiza for second breakfast. Terri learned from Arthur that there are stairs at the front of the ship in Garden Cafe that lead down to La Cucina, the Italian restaurant. It’s only open as a restaurant for dinner, but during the day the tables are available to use. It’s a beautiful spot, with more comfortable seating and an amazing view forward. It immediately became our new breakfast spot.

Fiza and Terri discussed their plans to go to La Cucina for dinner the following night. Fiza had a coupon. Adam suggested, in that case, that he and I go to Le Bistro. Le Bistro is the French specialty restaurant and my number one pick. I was all for it.

After breakfast, I went back to my cabin and gathered up my computer and my Kindle. I planned to go somewhere cozy to read and write, but when I got to deck 15 I saw there was a free hot tub at Spice H2O.

I was only in the hot tub for a few minutes before seeing a bathrobed couple looking my way. I hoped I’d scare them off. I did for a bit. They headed to the bar and ordered drinks. Shortly after, though, some of their friends came in, waved at them, and headed directly to my hot tub. The nerve! They took off their bathrobes and as they got in, I noticed that the man was wearing pineapple swim trunks.

So…apparently, on a cruise ship, upside pineapples are code for swingers or wife-swapping. Knowing this, I decided that I would avoid all pineapple, no matter what direction it pointed. (No judgment if YOU are into…pineapple.)

They were from Long Island, but live in Virginia. I stuck it out for a few minutes until their friends came to join them. At that point, I gave up my hot tub and headed to the pool, where I saw Arthur. This was the only pool that was open throughout the trip. Most people assumed it was cold. It was not. I’d seen Arthur in it several times. I got in. He is a charming chatterbox! He is from MA and is a lifelong Democrat. He was involved in a campaign for a sheriff who was recently elected. For years there had been a conservative sheriff who was, among other things, abusive to prisoners. The new sheriff in town won on the most liberal platform ever run for the position, which was exciting.

Arthur also told me about his daughter, who had come out to him. She called him on the phone and said “Dad, I met a doctor. She’s a woman.” Arthur’s response to her was “You had me at doctor!”

Clearly, the pool was a better choice (for me) than the hot tub. (But you do you.)

When I got out, I noticed that my favorite hot tub (in a different area) was now empty. I was pleased to get another twenty minutes in.

After showering, I looked at Le Bistro openings for the following night. The popular times were filling up, so I reserved an early-ish time as an option.

Then I began to fret a little about clothing. As I mentioned, I’d only brought one slightly nice thing with me and it had already made an appearance. I’m going to need to up my game for the next cruise. I thought I would be alone most of the time and that I wouldn’t have occasion to dress up. Some people had two (or more) outfits for each day. I wondered if I might be able to find something nice to add to my wardrobe in Bermuda the next day.

I went down to Deck 7 and found Adam and Andy drinking Manhattans at Maltings. I joined them for a few minutes. It was the first time I’d seen Andy since his tiff with Silvia. I hadn’t heard anything about it since. We all walked down to O’Sheehan’s to see what was going on with the soccer match. The game was on the screen in the Atrium and there was a big crowd there. I left Adam and continued to wander. I walked by Headliners, which was filled with another large crowd, this one playing bingo. No wonder the rest of the ship seemed empty.

I wasn’t particularly interested in either, so went back to my cabin until it was time for my early dinner at O’Sheehan’s. I ordered the special, fried chicken, along with a Caesar salad (green). The fried chicken was not what I’d hoped. It reminded me of shake ’n bake. There was a little corn on the cob with it which tasted like it had been boiled for 7 hours.

After eating, I wandered by the bars. I saw the LRC ladies from North Carolina. They were ordering the drink of the day - painkillers. I joined them. Why not?

I got to know them a bit. They live about half an hour away from each other. They met when one of them wanted to go on a trip, so she was looking for a travel roommate to cut down expenses. Their travel agent matched them up. They’ve been traveling together ever since - for 20-something years. One has a family and one doesn’t. One is more tightly wound than the other. They are fairly independent from each other - spending some time together and some apart when they travel. They pick on each other, but you can tell they love each other.

I want a travel buddy like that! Auditions to be held.

While we were getting to know each other, the captain came on the speaker and announced that we would no longer be going to Bermuda the next day. Weather, schedule, getting to NY on time, blah blah blah. One of the ladies was bothered by it and grumpy. She ordered another drink. The other was like me - almost a little happy that we weren’t stopping.

There was immediate chatter and anger around the ship. How was Norwegian going to make up for this? Would excursions be refunded? Would port fees be refunded?

I excused myself and left the ladies to get my seat for Burn the Floor. I found a seat, second row center. After a while, Fiza came along and joined me. She was a little anxious because she had her karaoke competition coming up in two hours.

Burn the Floor (described as ballroom dancing, reinvented) was good, but it was a different version than on the other ship (the Breakaway). I liked the Breakaway version better, mainly because of the music and musicians. The dancing was excellent. There was one actor/dancer (both in this and in Priscilla) who I could not take my eyes off of, so that was fun.

After Burn the Floor, I went to my cabin, where there was a notice saying that Bermuda excursions had been reimbursed and that every cabin would receive $200 in on board credit to make up for the change in itinerary. This was great news.

From there I headed to Bliss to get ready for Fiza’s karaoke. I was the first of my group to arrive.

I don’t think Bliss should have the fabric seats and sofas that it has. With nothing else to distract me, I noticed a bit of a stench. I really am not a fan of Bliss!

Eventually, it was me, Terri, Adam, Silvia, and Arthur. I took video of Fiza, who sang Make You Feel My Love. There were six finalists competing. Each sang a song. Three were chosen to sing a second song. From those, the winner was chosen. Fiza didn’t make it to the top 3. She was robbed!

She was super sweet throughout it - really cheered on the other contestants.

After karaoke, we stayed at Bliss for the Ocean Music Festival, in which all the musicians that had been playing around the ship got together to perform. Lucas did three songs.

When that ended and the DJ started, Terri, Fiza, Adam and I went our separate ways, but arranged to meet at Maltings shortly. It was a quiet night. We sat at the bar for the set and, as usual, when Lucas was done for the night, we were done for the night.

It was weird going to sleep knowing that we’d still be at sea when we woke up, instead of being in Bermuda.