Live From the Nose Art of the Seas (NCL SUN)

For the next seven or so days I’ll be posting here about my trip to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios Jamaca, and Great Stirrup Cay. Some of you may have read my previous “Live From..." posts and I hope to entertain you a bit and tell you a bit about my experience on this ship. I’ll try and give you some insight to this ship (NCL Sun) and to compare a bit to other ships I’ve been on. I don’t pretend to be a cruise expert, but I have been on several Carnival, and NCL cruises; one Princess, and one Royal Caribbean cruise. I’ll try to give you the good, the bad, and the ugly of this cruise. I need to tell you that I think all cruises are good and better. The only ugly I have ever seen was wearing a speedo.

Those that have read my stuff before know that for me and “The Woman to Blame”, cruising had become a quest to find Kokomo. (No… not Kokomo, Indiana… I know where that is. But a search for the place the Beach Boys told us about. You know… “Off the Florida Keys…. There’s a place called Kokomo… That’s where you wanna go… to get away from it all… down in Kokomo.”

We were also on a quest to visit every Margaritaville that is in places where Margaritaville belongs… you know; warm places. There’s no way the “real” Margaritaville is in a place that gets cold. (By cold, I mean daytime temperature should never be below 70 degrees F.) So this trip, I intend to fill in one of the check marks for the Margaritaville in Ocho Rios.

But this trip is going to be a little different than the previous searches for Kokomo. I was originally of a mind that I would book a fall cruise on “Wal-Mart of the Seas”. You should know that we are really Wal-Mart people. When I started talking about moving, “The Woman to Blame” always said she would go with me anywhere I wanted, as long as there was internet and a Wal-Mart. But when I started talking about booking a fall cruise she said she wanted to be pampered this time… to go in style this time. She wanted a high end suite on NCL because of all the perks you get including a butler and concierge… a suite with a separate bedroom and a whirlpool bathtub… and in this case a huge rear facing wrap around balcony. I knew better than to argue and more importantly, she disserved to be pampered.

Now you know part of why she is indeed “The Woman to Blame”. And I love her for it. (By the way, she bought the T-shirt and hat that proudly proclaimed, “I’m the Woman to Blame.)

Shortly after we booked this cruise last spring, we were sitting around the morning coffee table with my daughter and her husband telling them wondrous tales about cruises in general and Cozumel, Grand Cayman, (my two favorite places in the world)… and Ocho Rios. We got the two of them excited about the idea of a cruise but there was no way they could afford to “do” a Caribbean cruise really “right”.

So that evening we added my daughter and her husband to the cruise. “The Woman to Blame” got especially excited about this cruise because we were going to be able to show them some of the wonders of the Caribbean. So this cruise is going to be about sharing the places we love.

I’ll probably write two or three segments a day. No promises here. If a day is really filled and I’m having too much fun then maybe it will be only a note or two… if that.

So come along with me for the next seven days on the “Nose Art of the Seas.”

Bob

Memories of Naked Fanny

I can't wait to read it ! You have a wonderful style of writing !

I'm in. Let's get it rolling...:D Phins up!

Ooooooh finally!! Ready to go wherever you take us!:D

Love your stories!!!!!

Yay! You're the most interesting writer on cc. Have a great trip!

Yay!! I am excited that my virtual cruise is about to begin!! How much fun you will have getting the kids addicted to cruising...Looking forward to your postings...

After sitting at my computer and watching the Sun sail away, I will look forward to your stories. Hope you have a wonderful trip.:D

Sorry, double post

:DLooking forward to sharing your quest for "Kokomo" on this trip! Glad you will be enjoying it with your daughter and son-in-law. The "woman to blame" must really be be excited about that. Enjoy!!!:D

Read your Flowrider of the Seas review and loved it! Can't wait to read your live review of Nose Art of the Seas!! :p :D

Bob thanks again for taking us on your journey to find Kokomo. Cant wait to read the rest!!!

A Sun travelogue!!!!! Squeeeeeee!

I will be climbing aboard as you leave next Saturday so keep everything nice and clean for us. Wish i was going in style in one of the SEs like you but so far no upsell call:(

Kokomo_Man

We (I also have a woman to blame) will be on the Sun in late Feb with the same itinerary. Our 1st of several cruises was on the Sun in 2003. What a great introduction to a our cruising experiences. I understand your opinion on the real Margaritaville as the closet one to us is in Niagara Falls Ontario. Just not the same.

Have a great trip and many Cheeseburgers in Paradise with those excellent pickles.

We don't really care where it goes (as long as there are beaches there). Just put us on a cruise ship.

Dan (& Blue Jai)

Doing the same trip in January as part of a B2B...really looking forward to yur reports.

Susan

Kokomo_Man

 

We (I also have a woman to blame) will be on the Sun in late Feb with the same itinerary. Our 1st of several cruises was on the Sun in 2003. What a great introduction to a our cruising experiences. I understand your opinion on the real Margaritaville as the closet one to us is in Niagara Falls Ontario. Just not the same.

 

Have a great trip and many Cheeseburgers in Paradise with those excellent pickles.

 

We don't really care where it goes (as long as there are beaches there). Just put us on a cruise ship.

 

Dan (& Blue Jai)

I loved reading your Rockwall of the Seas review so I'm really looking forward to this one!!!

YAABAA-DAABAA-DOOOOOOOOOO

When it’s time to head for the ship I always feel a little bit like Fred Flintstone when he gets off work and heads for home. The smile is plastered all over my face and I want to shout to the world. This time was no different. As we came up over the bridge nearing the port we could see the tops of the ships waiting for us. The excitement peaked.

It wasn’t just me either… everyone in the car had that smile plastered on their face. They were all chattering and jabbering about the ships. There were three ships in port. We came around a corner and our ship jumped out in front of us. It had a big bright sun burst painted on the “nose” along with the bright stripes and swirls on the bow... the trademark of NCL.

We had just spent a couple of extra days in Key Largo stretching out our vacation as much as we can. But I think that’s just a couple of extra days for the excitement to build… we’re in Florida, but not on the boat yet. I love “The Keys” but there’s nothing like it when you get to the boat. Even though the NCL SUN is one of the smaller boats in the fleet… it’s still huge. And with all that “Nose Art” it’s really stands out.

Boarding was a breeze. Although Port Canaveral is not my favorite port, they have the best handling of all the stuff at the port. By that I mean, the baggage drop off and getting into/out of the terminal area. By the way, for those that don’t know, the “trick” to getting here, is to rent a car and then drop it off in the town of Cape Canaveral. Even for just two people it is cheaper than the shuttles from the Orlando airport and you have the advantage of having your own transport. When you drop off the car, the rental car places have free transportation to the port. They will drop you off right at the ship and pick you up when you get back.

Once inside the terminal everything was slick too. NCL has the best processing for suite passengers of any of the four cruise lines I’ve been on. They take you into a lounge area with some snacks, juice, coffee and such. The Concierge meets you and starts to handle all of the legwork to get things going. Then after a little while one of the processing agents comes to get you and then processes you… takes your picture, your credit card information (all that sort of stuff) and then gives you the “Key to the Kingdom card”. (OK… it’s not Disney, but you know what I mean.) The whole process probably didn’t take more than 15 minutes.

Then your butler escorts you onto the ship. On NCL, suite passengers are invited to eat lunch in one of the designated specialty restaurants. For the Sun this means the “Il Adagio” restaurant. At night this is the Italian restaurant, but suit passengers can eat breakfast and lunch there every day. I did say something about “The Woman to Blame” chose this to be pampered didn’t I?

From there everything was about standard fare for all cruise ships. Booze was free flowing… errrr should I say booze was being guzzled but there was nothing free about it. I bought a round of frozen concoctions to help us hang on and a bucket of beers for Zach. When they brought the bill for the drinks, they should have brought along a defibrillator!!! We hadn’t even made it to the lifeboat drill yet and I already had to take out a second mortgage on my house! Oh well… I’ve been claiming that I’m spending all my kids’ inheritance on these cruises, but at least this time I’m spending some of it on them.

Since I mentioned Zach… I should tell you about the folks traveling with me. There’s my daughter, “Peanut”. After raising two kids to semi-adulthood, she’s now a full time college student. Zach is her husband. He’s a Navy man and next year he will be completing 22 years of service to our country. A round of applause please….

My son Bobby is also with us this trip. To me he’s “Bobby”... but to the rest of the world he is Robert. He works for one of the smaller airlines doing training and certification of folks who bring you drinks and peanuts. He also has to deal with the TSA a lot. While we were in Key Largo “Peanut” and Bobby finished their SCUBA certification, so now I have three “playmates” for Grand Cayman, Cozumel and other future diving in the Caribbean.

I forgot to tell you a bit more about the booze... NCL did not skip on any of the alcohol in any of the frozen concoctions. They were really strong. More than a couple of those, and they would need a wheelbarrow to take me to the lifeboat drill. So even though they were expensive, maybe you get your money’s worth.

The lifeboat drill seemed to go pretty quickly too. On this ship you no longer have to bring your life vest with you so there was no hassle and it was over without any muss or fuss. Or… perhaps with the frozen concoctions I just didn’t care.

I’ll stop here for now, but before I go I want to say hello to Mickiemac… I sure wish you and Jim were here. I’ll have a Chocolate Mocha Whatchamacolit tonight for you.

I also want to say hello to “Ski-Voodo” and say thanks for getting us here. I wish you were here too.

Thanks also to everyone for your kind comments.

More later…

Bob

Memories of Naked Fanny

Thanks for taking us along! I will be boarding the Sun on Saturday and can't wait....your stories are just adding to my excitement.

TracyE

My parents are on this cruise Nov 26 and im on the same cruise march 17 2012 So im very excited to read about your cruise and any excursions... Only thing im gonna add I was on the sun last march and Cant miss Is the wings at the sports bar and moderno!

We are on the same route in Feb. Can't wait to hear? read! about the cruise. Can you grab and scan the dailies when you get back?

Can't wait for today's post

Bob, I am so excited for you and the kids. I know this will be a wonderful trip for you all. Jim said he really hopes you find something as yummy as the chocolate melting cake. We feel sure you will. We are making strawberry margaritas tonight in memory of Emily(the woman to blame). I am sure you all will have a couple in her memory as well. Wishing we were there, but really glad you all are!!

Mickie

WooHoo! I'm so excited that I met you and your wonderful family. Sounds like you got off to a great start! Can't wait to read all about it. Please tell Robert I send my best and to enjoy his first cruise...it's addicting!

So which suite are you in? I love 9076 and will be again in 3/12.

Enjoying your cruise!!!

I always get a little behind on my posts the first day of so of the cruise. I’ll catch up as I can, but for now here’s yesterday’s last journal entry…

I promised you “the good… the bad… and the ugly” so I’ll get the bad and the ugly out of the way first. Keep in mind that there’s “ugly” and there’s “ugly” at sea. At sea I seldom loose my smile and that’s holding true so far. I fully believe the adage that a bad day at sea is better than a good day at work. So for the next couple of paragraphs keep in mind that we are already having a glorious time.

The first thing that always amazes me is what some folks wear to the swimming pool. I’m sure these folks are really “comfortable in their skin.” They have accepted their bodies as they are… they are (as are most people) beautiful on the inside. But I’m reminded of the Jeff Foxworthy comedy bit that says that some folks should, “COVER IT UP”. And I think this cruise is worse. This time of year the average age of the passengers goes up… way up.

Now I firmly believe that old folks should get out to the pool and have fun just like everyone else. Jump in the pool… have fun. But there are certain folks over 200 years old who should not wear string bikinis and speedos. The smallest bikini and speedo I saw today was being worn by a couple who were clearly well past their prime. Oh well… they were clearly having fun.

I have to tell you about Ms. Blue. She was in quite a festive mood and I’m sure will provide us plenty of entertainment while we are on the ship. She is a very rotund black woman and somewhere north of 50 years old. Her hair is short, thinning and colored Smurf Blue. She had jell in the front of her hair and had the front standing up… sort of a cross between a Troll doll, and Don King. At least she was covering it up… her T-Shirt said: “Watch Me - Do Me”. I know she’s going to have a blast this cruise.

Food - We didn’t eat in the main dining room tonight. Instead, we just ate at the buffet. Now I like spicy food, but each serving could have come with a fire extinguisher. I have commented before that the food on NCL is not the typical American style cuisine. It is much more European which for many folks is fine. But the head chef on the Sun is from India and I’m sure his taste buds were burned out from all the spices long ago. So be warned that the buffet has a decisive Indian flair.

This is of course just my opinion… and opinions are like noses. Every one has one. Amy really liked the food and Zach “chowed down” without complaint. (I guess this is better than Navy ship food… by a long ways.) Zach did complain that the black olives were marinated in something weird. As for Bobby… well… he’s a garbage gut and will eat anything.

After dinner we wandered around the ship to see what the night life had to offer. The main “Welcome aboard” show wasn’t one of the stellar performances. The cruise director, Jose, tried to be funny and was indeed welcoming. He welcomed all 53 nationalities that are cruising as passengers… one nationality at a time. Even the one guy… Max Smedley from Lower Slabovia.

(There are only a few people in the world who will understand my reference to Max Smedley and Lower Slabovia and I won’t bore you here with an explanation here… it’s not that interesting. But I had to put it in here for a couple of people; Richard Oliver Colin, my political science teacher back in college… the best political science teacher in the world. And it’s for Emily… I love you sweetheart.)

(Sorry for the “aside” but I had to put that in. Oh… and I should tell you that Richard Oliver Colin is also a good writer of “Political intrigue and thriller novels”. You might enjoy his stuff.)

Following Jose’s welcoming of all 7987 nationalities, the SUN Dancers came on and did a little singing and dancing. (I don’t know if they are really called the “SUN Dancers”, but if they aren’t, they should be.) Now a few of the dancers were quite “talented” but there was one “red head” singer/dancer whose future is clearly in front of her.

Then came the comedian…well that’s what he was billed as. He calls himself “Noodles” and that was the funniest thing about him. We got to the main theater to see the show late and it was standing room only. After five minutes of Noodles we had no trouble finding seats. And before the show was over folks could have had our seats.

I’m a piano bar aficionado. I don’t mean a chamber music kind of place, but a place that has everyone around the piano singing along with the paid performer… you know… singing the popular songs you know by heart. Unfortunately, I don’t think NCL believes in those kind of piano bars. They had one area that had the potential to be a fun piano bar, but I’m sorry to tell you that it doesn’t come close. The piano player in there only did a mediocre job and both people sitting in the area were only marginally interested. This wasn’t even close to the great evenings I’ve spent with Ron Pass in the piano bars on Carnival.

I know that this segment hasn’t sounded like we are having a good time. But that’s not true. We’re having a great time!!! And the smiles are still on everyone’s face. There’s so much to do here that I’ve only scratched the surface. So instead of dancin’ in the isles of the boat, we went back to the cabin… and to our huge wrap around balcony on the back of the boat. We had a little party of our own as we watched the lights of Fort Lauderdale and Miami go by as we sailed South. And if you don’t think that’s a great time, then you bowling might be for you.

Tomorrow’s a sea day so I’ll write more then.

Bob

Memories of Naked Fanny