Family Vacation 2016

The food and Dinning experiences were excellent. We did not have to dress up for dinner but we did. The eating was a big problem for me as I am going through my fourth year of on going chemotherapy. I have not been eating much. My taste buds are diminished and my appetite is none existence. I had chemotherapy on Tuesday, July 26, 2016, and my body need two weeks to fully recover. The food had my taste buds dancing. I tasted and ate everything. When I returned to have chemotherapy this past Wednesday, August 24th, 2016, all of my blood levels were up. There was no need to have a red blood cell shot. Yes, one less shot for me. They had my favorite scald milk. A childhood favorite growing-up in Jamaica, West Indies. I did not attend the Specialty Dining Rooms. I did not purchase the beverages packages. One draw back was we needed to bring our own cups for frequent water fill ups. The cups that were provided were about 12 ounces. My daughter is a water drinker as she does not drink juices or sodas. I called Norwegian to asked if we could bring a case of water since we were parking at the Terminal. i was told no as the policy for bringing water onto the ship was recently changed. We already had 32 ounces water containers by bubba. I filled up our cups each night and placed in our room refrigerator. We also walked with an empty store bought water bottle which we drank the water before reaching the Terminal. This empty bottle was our walk around bottle which we filled up throughout the day. There were ice tea, fruit juices, lemonade, kiwi strawberry flavored water, and mango flavored water available all day. We would mix the ice tea with the lemonade and the kiwi strawberry with the lemonade. A separate water bottle would be needed as you can have one bottle filled with water and one filled with juice. If you do not have a water bottle there were courtesy cups at each beverage counter. There was no lacking of anything food or hydration.

Alvin the Cruise Director kept was too busy. The activities were over lapping. We were in different activities at different times. Each Evening a News letter was left in our Stateroom for the next day. I had practically circled off everything. My favorite was Bingo. I always wanted to attend a Bingo get together. To my dismay, Bingo was not free. Laughing, I thought it was free. It was $20.00 dollars a game and they had different packages. The prizes were excellent. On the last day, there was a drawing for a Cruise trip for two. Well, I did not win any of thee Bingo Prizes but I had fun and got my Bingo fun in. I loved it. My next activities was the Art Auction. This is a new interest which I developed last year. I always wanted to attend an Auction. There was an Art Introduction class which I attended on board before the Auction later that afternoon. Excellent for a new-be like me. I learned everything and took notes. I went to the Auction and won a few bids that I later purchased. It was very nice. The Staff was excellent! The girls had an ice cream spa night which includes getting their nails and toes done with ice cream flavors. They had a canvasing art class. It was beautiful. A trip for them to remember. A trip for all of us to remember.

The Entertainment was very good. The Sail-away Party was excellent. I did not attend many and there were many. The Splash Academy Circus was excellent. This occurred the last day at sea, which was Friday, the 19th. The children had fun at the Circus as they were beaming from ear to ear with their performances.

The Children's Program was excellent. I was Cruising with my 12 year old niece and 11 year old daughter. They were part of the Dolphins Group. They were allowed to leave after two hours but I informed the staff that were not allowed to leave without my mom or me picking them up. The girls had a blast. They made new friends while exchanging numbers. The Staff were very professional. The security was very tight. We had to hand in our Room ID which has our picture on it when scanned. We had to hand in our Room ID to check the children in and to check them out. At the end of the Cruise we had to pay for the service as the Staff was not paid via the service fee. I asked the girls what do they feel the Staff should be paid. The amount they gave was very reasonable and fair as they were taught about money from our family. I had them do a Thank You note and draw a picture. Well, we took the kids menu from the dinning room and cut out the pictures to tape on the letter. The scissor and tape we got from the guest service center.

I cannot stop commenting about the Staff! Their professionalism was on point with nothing lacking for me. They did an excellent job. I gave them 500 Stars. They were friendly. Always asking if we were okay. Always asking if we were having fun. Professionalism all the way, I loved it!

T

The cabin was excellent. My mom requested the balcony as she is the frequent Cruiser. Our Steward was excellent. He made a different animal out of the towel each night for the girls. They loved it.