- Our Cabin
- Leaving Miami
- On Board
- Norway vs. Other Cruise Ships
- St Thomas
- Those Tenders...
- Ah... Sunsets
Endless Water
Jump to Pictures
Jump to Random Observations
This cruise was the same ship and same ports of call that Judi and I took last year. My online album for that cruise contains a lot of information (you can see it by clicking here), so I don't have a lot of words to add in this album. Mostly I focused on taking pictures, especially where I thought I hadn't taken enough the last time around. I did keep a sort of "diary" -- not a "Dear Diary, it's Tuesday" sort of thing, but just a jotted list of random observations.
Most of the random observations are on this page (below), though some are mixed in with the pictures. The pictures are somewhat organized. Some pages have a lot of pictures, some have only a few. You can view a set of pictures (and maybe some information) by clicking on one of the links here:
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Endless Water |
This was Judi's second cruise on the Norway in just three weeks -- she'd been two weeks earlier with her mother. And it was noticed. The Casino Hostess asked, "Did you enjoy your week off?" On the way to the lifeboat drill we passed a crew member who was just standing there to direct people. "Welcome back, ma'am," she said. A waiter approached us in the International Lounge and asked her, "Will you have a chardonnay?" When she sat down to play blackjack, the dealer said, "Tips get higher when this lady sits down." This went on for the entire cruise.
Really good reception
Overhead, when we were a good day out to sea, a man saying, "Do you think my cell phone will work out here?"
84877, 84877, 84877...
I had to write my boarding pass number on every credit slip. It was 84877. I'll remember it forever, just like I remember by old student id number (18076), even though I've been out of school for more than 20 years.
The FBI made me do it
On Judi's cruise two weeks previously, the Norway hadn't called on St. Maarten, obstensibly because the seas were too rough. Later the passengers found out (from newpapers in St. Thomas) that the real reason had been a security threat. The passengers were understandable upset that the Captain had lied to them and treated them like children.
Regarding that no-show, on this trip the ship's historian said, "The FBI told us to lie to the passengers, then we get into port the next day and which ship's picture is on the front page? Ours." The FBI told the crew to lie to the passengers? Yeah, right.
The historian also told us that other cruise ships will signal when the Norway leaves a port, but they don't signal for any other cruise ship. This is in deference to her once having been an ocean liner. He also said the Norway is scheduled to continue sailing at least through 2004.
'Tis the season
The "season" for cruising in the Carribean is November through April. Remember not to go then! <g>
Call it wallet lubrication
The jewelry stores in Sint Maarten will serve your free beer while you decide whether or not to buy those diamond studs.
Really good food
We ate at a French restaurant on Orient Beach in St. Martin -- Kakao Beach was the name of the place. I had snapper in a tammarind sauce, and Judi had Mahi in a cream and scallion sauce. Judi had mashed potatoes that were mixed with red cabbage. Red cabbage in mashed potatoes? Who would ever even think of that combination? But it was delicious.
My mashed potatoes were mixed with something else -- we couldn't figure out what. For vegetables we had thin slices of alternating zuchini, onions, and tomatoes; stacked and grilled. Plus spinach on the side. Judi's opinion: "Absolutely wonderful -- one of the three best fish meals I've ever had." (She thought her fish was better than mine, but it wasn't.)
This was the first time I saw a check denomiated in Euros. However, the Euro simply converted to the US$ at a one-for-one exchange rate, so I guess it was just for show.
"Set a course for that mysterious black cloud up ahead."
Norway's old Captain, who was in command on our cruise last year, and who had been with her for so long, isn't with her anymore. The new Captain is a buffoon. For example, this is a rough excerpt from one of his morning announcements: "We're entering the area that some call the Bermuda Triangle. I myself have never seen anything unusual in 32 years at sea. I don't believe in that superstition stuff."
This is the guy that's driving that's the boat?
Beehives at sea
We saw a short documentary, in black-and-white, about the France's first Atlantic crossing. It was really fascinating to see the original swimming pools, etc., and to see that some of the cabins originally had outside access, from the deck. Also the white wake that the France left behind her -- that was a ship that could really move. But the most interesting things to see were the wild hair and clothing styles! <g>
Promenading
The promenade on the International Deck has got to be the longest enclosed space on a cruise ship. I paced it twice: 205 steps one time, and 211 steps the next. 205 + 211 / 2 = 208 paces long.
What a way to ruin a cruise
The last full day we had a medical evacuation by helicopter from the Pool Deck. A heart attack victim, we were told.
Welcome home?
When we disembarked in Miami, there were two Customs officers processing the passengers: The good one, and mine. The good Customs agent was just grabbing forms from people as they went by. Her line moved very quickly. Unfortunately, I got into the other line. My Customs agent (AKA Colossal Jackass) was stopping every passenger to see their citizenship documents, and instructing everyone who only had a birth certificate to get a passport instead. His line went real slow. Then, for some reason, he decided to stop me for a special lecture. "Look at this," he said, meaning my birth certificate. "The state offices in... New Hampshire aren't open today, so if I had a question about this I wouldn't be able to get it answered until tomorrow. You know I could hold you for 24 hours if I wanted." I had been going to complain to him, until he made this thinly veiled threat. Like, if I don't like the way you comb your hair, I can throw you in jail for a day, so don't cross me, see? You know, it doesn't mean crap to be an American when a law enforcement jackass has that sort of arbitrary power, and doesn't mind letting you know about it.
All text and images on this page and pages linked to from this page are © Copyright Gregory S. Smith 2002. All rights reserved.