Cruising on the Norwegian Jewel: wrap up

 Three sea days completed the cruise.

Discussing his book with Bryan :)

We saw hundreds of Flying Fish skimming over the waves!

Earlier in the cruise, we saw dolphins leaping towards the ship, trying to catch up with it! And whales spouting!

But all through the cruise, our fellow travellers surprised me, too.

There was the Cantankerous Aussie, of course.  Every morning, he plunked himself down at our table.  “You have 5 minutes to shut off that computer,” he would say, “or it’s going overboard.”

Early one morning, I shared an elevator with a middle-sized couple.  They pushed 7.

          “Breakfast in the Tsar’s Palace?” I asked.

          “Yeah!” responded the husband, emphatically.  “We went up to the Garden Café the first day and that was enough for me.”  (Pause)  “Getting run over by all those Asians.”  

          What?  Did he feel threatened by fast-moving slim people?  

Well, slow is what you get in the morning in the Tsar's Palace. 

There was the fellow who spotted a lady carrying a heaped plate and called out, “Eating for two?”  Maybe he knew her, but she didn’t like it, and she sat at a different table. 

At 10 pm one night, one of a gang in the elevator noted that Bryan & I were going all the way up to Deck 12. 

          “More buffet,” he queried, with a smirk.

          “Tea,” I responded, surprised and somewhat defensive.

          Looks of horror all round and someone blurted, “You’re not from Texas, then.”

          Then there was the lady in the elevator who gasped when she learned that I was headed for the lowest stateroom deck.  Eyes popping, she cried, “Is it . . . very noisy down there?”

         

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Diana did a lot of writing during our trip.  At the end, she summarized the things that stood out the most for her:

1.    The entertainer, Randon Lauren.  I did sigh a bit over his Neil Diamond songs.

2.    My family and I are foodies and we were not disappointed:

French Onion soup, lamb roast, Caesar salad with real anchovies, and the desserts . . . especially carrot cake.  One word: Yummy

3.   Breezy walks on the top deck. Sighting dolphins, flying fish.

4.   Pier 39, San Francisco: sea lions. Cool, eh?

5.   Observing my first tropical storm while standing on the stern of the cruise ship. Cartagena, you did yourself proud .

6.    I learned from the best:  watching the Asians play ping pong.

7.   Conversations in the elevator.

One elevator remark that Diana recalls was made by someone who complained about not ever having been warm since embarkation.  Maybe it was a first time cruiser who didn't take into account airconditioning on the ship. 

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Bye now and thank you, Norwegian Jewel, for a lovely holiday. 

I have only one complaint – couldn’t you put on any late night movies for those of us who aren’t into gambling, dancing, or karaoke?  Other ships do!