At Sea: Update from last night - After our exciting day in Acapulco, we really enjoyed the sail-away from our balcony. The pilot boat trailed the Norwegian Bliss and off-loaded the pilot captain to applause from all the port-side passengers. He waved to us all, and we all waved and clapped for him. This is always a fun part of cruising – watching the local port captain handing the ship back to the ship’s captain. It is costumery/regulated in most ports that a local port-learned captain take the ship out to sea before the ship’s captain takes over the helm.
We dressed for dinner, went to the Observation Deck for a cocktail (as we seem to do every night) and then went to dinner in the Savory dining room. Dave had Caesar Salad, followed by Puttanesca (made without anchovies – what?). I had a teeny Brie en croute, and a lamb shank with roasted potatoes and carrots. My dinner was very good and DT was surprised that his pasta was actually spicy. Everything we have ordered on this ship that was denoted as SPICY was not.
We finished dinner just in time to catch the comedy show with Julie Barr and Dylan Mandlsohn. We laughed so much. This show was advertised/warned as adult only and there were many off-color jokes, but really nothing anyone who had ever visited a gynecologist would be offended by, i.e., half of the audience. We were really laughing. When the other comedian took the stage, he went completely the other way, and we laughed even more. We have been to many comedy nights on cruise ships, and tonight was on-par. Very funny. Very woke.
After the comedy show, we retired to our room… because we are old and retired. We had a very wonderful day/evening in Acapulco. The cliff divers were amazing, so happy we did not skip this event.
THURSDAY: Another good night of rest in our rocking-cradle bed, but when we woke this morning, the ship was bobbing about quite a bit – swells only though, no white caps. By the time we had coffee and headed off for exercise, the wind had come up as well. My U-shaped track on Deck 8 was crowded this morning and I noticed a few spots on the deck where it was wet. I assumed the crew were “swabbing the decks” and continued on my mission. Several laps later, when I crossed the bow of the ship, the wind nearly took me down. Everyone suddenly looked as if they were very drunk – staggering. Big waves were breaking out to sea. When I entered the walkway along the port side, a wave crashed over the railing. Now I knew why the deck was wet in places. A man I chat with most mornings while walking, gave me a “I give up” look, and we headed to the closest entrance door. That was enough. I managed only 5000 steps this morning.
By noon, we were both ready for some food – only coffee this morning – so wandered down to one of the three dining rooms for lunch. There are 18 restaurants and 18 bars on the Norwegian Bliss. Passengers are never without many options for food. The buffet (Garden Café) is open daily until 9:30p, closing for a bit to switch from breakfast to lunch to dinner. The Local restaurant/bar is open 24/7, as is room service. Room service food is free, but there is a $10 delivery fee. The dining rooms are also open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, closing for a bit to switch-out for each service.
As we were being seated in the dining room for lunch – window-side table today – Our Captain made an announcement about the high seas and the big winds. He explained the wind was a certain type of named wind (aka Santa Ana, I can’t remember the actual name of this wind, sorry) that comes from the Atlantic! (Wow, that is super interesting and I will goggle it whenever I have Wi-Fi.) Our Captain further explained we are super lucky as this type of wind can bring gale-force winds, so today’s storm was nothing.
The television in our cabin has a few channels showing our current place on earth, wind speed/direction, ocean temperature, outside temperature, barometric pressure, humidity (ugh!). Another channel shows the view off the bow of the ship. (As I type this Thursday afternoon, we are ~1900 miles from Los Angeles and still have ~2700 miles to reach Miami.)
Back to lunch. Our table was so lovely next to the window, we could have spent the entire afternoon there. It didn’t seem as tipsy on Deck 6, as it is on Deck 14. We both had a cup of roasted tomato soup. It was super rich and creamy, and included a few bit of pasta made with pesto and a drizzle of crème. Dave ordered a tuna melt and said it was most uninspired. The sandwich oddly arrived with only a sprig or parsley. No fries. When our waiter passed by our table and saw DT’s forlorn sandwich, he asked about the missing fries. It was as if the world would end if fries were not immediately delivered to our table. Pretty funny, really. The errant fries suddenly appeared and the world continued to spin. I had a Cajun Chicken dish. Very good, and actually spicy. Though we rarely eat dessert, but not wanting to give-up our perfect table, we each indulged. I had five-spice tapioca pudding with mango. So different! Dave ordered chocolate-orange mousse. This was simply chocolate mousse with a bit of orange liquor… but oddly enough, there was a 2-inch square of orange jello – yes, jello – at the bottom of the parfait glass. Neither of us finished our treats, but it is fun to try new things. Who would think to use five spice in tapioca? Exiting the restaurant after lunch, we came upon a country/western line dance situation in the atrium:
Walking back to our room was, again, like drunk-walking. After lunch, napping, reading and needlepointing occurred.
The mysterious Atlantic wind calmed late afternoon. Dave finished his Panama Canal book. He really enjoy the huge tome, and has informed me of everything I need to know for our transit in a few days.
Rinse and Repeat: drinks in the Observation lounge, then dinner in The Manhattan Dining Room. The hostess told us she was charging us double tonight (meals are free) because we were getting a table with a view off the back of the ship. It was definitely prime-time seating, but it was dark. We did have awesome views of the wake made by the ship though. I ordered a mixed greens salad with pear and walnuts (oh, hello, how often do it make this at home… but how much better does it taste if I don’t have to make it myownself?). My entrée was a New York strip sirloin steak. Cooked to medium, it was super tasty, with a peppercorn sauce. My Driver had a Crunchy Mediterranean Salad (?) and a seafood risotto with shrimp, clams, mussels, and calamari - with a bit of sea bass. He said it was the best dinner he has eaten on the ship to date. No dessert.
An early evening, as we have a 6:30a alarm tomorrow for our self-guided tour of Antiqua, Guatemala. Until my next update, I remain, your “I’ll take more photos in Guatemala tomorrow” correspondent.
LINKS:
Norwegian Bliss
Real-time ship tracking
Yummmmmmmm… I’ll have what Dave had with a side of what Terry had!!!