Vacation day 5 - 7 in just testing

I don’t blame you if you don’t read it all -

Subject: Re: Day 5 - Thur

First off - after I finished yesterday’s entry I went back to the room and Will discovered that we can see fish in the water from our balcony! The water is SO CLEAR that the light from the boat lights up the ocean and you can see schools of small fish!

Ok so today was finally Bermuda beach day. And even though Norwegian has their own beach we took a tip from DJ Smooth Operator and went to a beach he said had even pinker sand and less people.

we got our own local taxi and they do drive crazy here and I was taking pictures out the window but I didn’t dare put my hand outside the window or it’d be taken off. We’re on the wrong side, the roads are narrow and everyone goes fast.

The beach was just like you see on TV. Just like all the commercials. Clear blue green water. I didn’t even wear water shoes cause all it is, is sand! No garbage or seaweed and we used the goggles to see down to the bottom. It was less crowded too so we weren’t sitting next to anyone. We stayed there for hours till our legs were exhausted and then got a taxi back to the ship.

The taxi driver back is actually from NJ and knew our home town! Weird. On the radio it was throwback Thursday so we got to hear so real Bermudian radio. Also, the people in Bermuda actually do wear Bermuda shorts. Kinda funny. We passed a Bermudian grocery store as well. NOTHING like what we have here. SMALL.

We showered and went back out for more shopping because near the port is lots of shopping. They call them ‘malls’ but it’s more like markets. They have lots of touristy stuff and lots of arts. Glassworks, clayworks, etc.

We went BACK to the boat - it’s easy to get in and out - and some guy got in the elevator with us and kept saying ‘to infinity and beyond!’ and then started talking about how Buzz was a stupid name and that’s why he never set foot on the moon. I dunno if he meant Buzz the toy or Buzz the real astronaut. Everyone on our floor was happy to leave the elevator and him!

We got lunch at the free garden café. It’s pretty good. Always something for me. Then we were off to the RUM CRUISE. We got a good seat on top of the boat to see the sunset and some guy from Gosling gave us tastes of all the rum and then made drinks with them and we got to drink that so you actually got a lot of rum. We got to try the real ‘Dark and Stormy’ and the real ‘Swizzle’ - 2 popular drinks in Bermuda. I didn’t like any of the rums alone but there was also a Gosling liquor that isn’t rum, really sweet. you can drink it alone or put it on ice cream, etc. It was so good and we were so drunk by the end we were like ‘LET’S BUY THAT’. and we did.

On the boat there was a guy from a Bonefish Grill restaurant but it’s not the chain. The just have a local restaurant called that and the Gosling guy was talking about the fish chowder and Will was so drunk he was like ‘I WANT FISH CHOWDER’. So we went to that restaurant and it was good. We had more Dark and Stormys and a bruschetta with avocado - they’re generous with avocado here - and then I had a veggie lasagna. Will had his fish chowder and he said it was really good with lots of fish and then he had the fish and chips and he said they’re less greasy than in America.

The dinner was EXPENSIVE but it was nice to go to a local place and they had a band with steel drums cracking jokes and we could see the ship all lit up. It was cool.

Until I checked the tickets for our glassbottom night tour and saw that I had the wrong time in my head and we missed the tour that we payed for. I could have cried. I was SOOOOOO disappointed and mad that I did that. I just had the wrong time in my head and we missed it.

OH WELL So we went back to the room and got changed for the White party. We finally made it to the white party and it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I dunno, it was crowded and maybe I was just still mad from missing the night tour so we didn’t stay long. Plus we had to get up early anyway cause today is the Norwegian beach day. More sun and fun! Yes we are using sunblock but we are getting tan out here! This Bermuda sun is like fiyaaaa

Subject: Re: Day 6 - Fri

So even though we were up late Thursday we had to be up early Friday for the Norwegian Day At the Beach. We had breakfast at one of the restaurants, it was fine. I’m pretty much having eggs and cottage cheese for breakfast but I like those things so it’s not bad. Will tried salmon eggs benedict and he said he liked it.

They had a place called ‘Snorkel Park’ that’s a walk away from the boat. Easy Peasy. And it was pretty good. I thought we’d be all beached out cause of yesterday but this was a different kidn of beach so it was OK. This beach didn’t have the pink soft sand, it actually had a lot of shell pieces so we wore our water shoes. But it was a cove type of place so there was No waves. The water was still really clear and really calm. The pink beach was like a real shore that had waves and you had to keep treading water to stay in the area you wanted or you’d drift off down the beach away from you’re stuff so the calm beach was good. I forgot to mention I saw a tiny crab at the pink beach. That was cool too. It ran away.

AND they had fish, fish swimming around you that you could see cause the water is still so clear. And we had our goggles so we could really see them all. There’s no fishing there I guess so they had no fear. Most of them were silver or tan with different stripes and spots. I bet Eric would know them all if he saw them.

There was also REAL coral. The salt in both the beaches keeps you floating so there was no danger of stepping on them, you just floated above with ease and with the goggles it was really cool to see. We even saw some yellow and blue coral and sea fans and kelp. Really cool. And kinda makes me feel not as bad about missing the glass bottom boat yesterday cause I got to see fish and coral today.

They had lounge chairs with umbrellas which was good. The pink beach we just had towels on the sand. But Snorkel Park was way more crowded than Warwick beach. A real Jersey shore type scene. But there was still enough room to swim around with out bumping into people. Will took a nice long nap under the umbrella. I just enjoyed the view and people watched. There was also music and food. Food wasn’t free tho so we ate on the boat later.

After the beach we stopped back at the room to shower and went shopping one last time to get another rum cake. We got one to take home but I wanted one to eat now. And I heard that the loquat is a good fruit so I got the loquat one. Kinda sweet but eh. Then we went to the Bermuda National Museum, which was OK. There was a lot of boat stuff and talking about their history, like when they got electricity and slavery and stuff. BUT at the museum is where they have their dolphin swim thing. We didn’t do the dolphin swim but we got to watch other people do it and so we got to see the dolphins. And there was a sea turtle too.

Then we walked up a hill from the museum cause and on the top we got a great view of the island and our boat but the hill was COVERED in little pebble poops! And we were like what the heck is up here pooping all over the place? Turns out they have a group of sheep just grazing around up a hill pooping all over. I took some pictures of the sheep but they wouldn’t let you get close and Will was worried they would ram us or something [ there was nothing between me and them, they coulda walked down the hill into the dolphin show if they wanted] and plus we were standing in poop. You just couldn’t avoid it. So we left and hit the Irish pub cause we were starving.

We had spinach dip. I had a veggie burger, milkshake AND an ice cream sundae after and it was big with nuts, fudge and m&ms and a cherry. The works. So Stuffed.

Will took another nap, like a 2 hour nap. Vacationing is hard.

We went back out, played a game of pool. We pretty much tied and then we went to the CHOCOLATE night at the main buffet. Where basically their dessert station was all fancy desserts. I had some chocolate marshmallow pudding bar and a caramel flan thing but it tasted like rice pudding flan. Weird but good.

We ate a little more - even though I was stuffed - cause I wanted to try the broc cheddar soup and to try their cheesy broccoli casserole and their roasted root veggies. I think they put nutmeg on the veggies so yuck but everything else was good. It’s hard to resist all the food all the time!!

Tonight was supposed to be the firework night and me and Will went up to the Spice H20 party deck to get a good seat on their high barstools so we could see em. But the wind was CRAZY. It was going so hard that when my hair whipped around and hit my face it actually hurt! [I had a hair tie and put it up]

Some other people sat at our table and their kid had a soda. They left cause it was too windy and the kid was cold and he left his soda. Some young guy then came up after they left and drank the kids drink!!! I told them - it was a kid’s soda and he was like ‘Oh Man I thought it was a drink’ - he thought he lucked out to a free alcoholic drink - even though Gross, he even used the straw on the drink that belonged to the kid. Who does that?!?

So we waited, waited , waited and then finally we ran into other people we knew who said they heard that the canceled the fireworks because of the wind. I hope they reschedule for tomorrow but no one knows if they will. So we left. We got to know a few people but we don’t go out with them or trade phone numbers or anything. You just sometimes run into the same people and remember their faces.

I think we have a show called ‘ Burn the Floor’ scheduled for tomorrow. Dunno what else we’re gonna do yet.

This vacation is great but 7 days is a good amount of days to be away. We’re ready to come home.

Re: Day 7 - Saturday

After breakfast we played Bingo. We had complimentary tickets. Will got really close to winning more than once but we didn’t win a thing. We didn’t pay to get in either so oh well. I think the biggest prize was $800.

The morning was really windy and cloudy so we didn’t spend much time on the pool deck and spent a long time in the spa. The Jacuzzi and the heated tile lounges was where I was for hours. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep too but it was a very nice nap.

Then we went to lunch at the Irish Pub where Will loves the wings. Everywhere you go staff have sanitizer in spray bottles and they spray your hands and say ‘washy washy happy happy’ - really on top of not getting the whole boat sick here. I discovered the ‘highball’ drink which is basically whiskey and ginger ale.

In the main Atrium we watched a Philippino guy singing Elvis songs and a ‘Thriller’ dance lesson. There’s always something in that main Atrium to watch - but sometimes it’s kids movies, it’s not always something we’re interested in. Drinking Highballs all the while.

We checked out our photos and picked copies of the ones we like. We got that complimentary in the package too. We actually got an amazing package that they’re probably not gonna give away again cause it was really good. The wine, photos, strawberries, water, shore credits, bingo, dining and beverage package, I can’t even remember what else.

Since there’s bars everywhere I just ordered highballs everywhere we went the entire afternoon and then went to the main buffet to sober up. Had cookies and cake and retired to the room to drink an entire bottle of water to make the room stop spinning. I wasn’t sick or throwing up - just dizzy.

Later we went out to dinner at the Manhattan Room which was really nice. Old fashioned looking and a live band with music. People were dancing. We always sit by the window or outside when eating just to get the view. I had an entire basket of bread and butter, vegetable tempura, and béchamel gnocchi. Chipwich for desert. Will had the steak and the bananas foster..

After eating I was feeling 100% better for the Burn The Floor dance show. They were really good. The best acts were when they were dancing Spanish or Brazilian and were moving their feet super fast.

We picked up our photos and went back to the room to pack.

It was easy getting off the boat because you have the option of just carrying the stuff off. We declared the alcohol we bought but they didn’t make us pay any tax or anything. Will thought we had to pay something but nope.

Home sweet home to the kitties.

Can’t wait to load up all the pictures and show you guys. We actually put down money for another cruise [within 4 years]. So we’re gonna start saving as soon as we get home....