Southern Caribbean Cruise – NCL Dawn (At Sea)

Southern Caribbean Cruise - NCL Dawn (At Sea)

Mass Market Paperback The Inner Circle Book

I spent most of the day relaxing. I was able to get in early enough to find a deck chair and claim a spot. I read, breathed in the sea air, swam a bit (and the salt water did not bother my arm at all). I avoided the hot tubs (I like hot tubs, but they tended to be overly crowded). I finished my book and started a new one, “The inner Circle” by Brad Metzler. I’ve been wanting to read something by him for a while now. His books have been highly recommended, and he’s had a few TV series that I’ve liked too.

I started in and almost right away I was not sure if I would like it. I tend to stay away from books written in first person. I don’t know, maybe the first one I read was poorly written, but I just avoid them. When I am reading, it is easier for my mind to put myself in the story as a casual observer, someone not key enough in the story to have a name. First person stories though force me to put myself in the eyes of the main character, to see things as they happen and to take actions that sometimes I do not think *I* would take as that character. There becomes a conflict and that is not what I want from a story.

Now I am reconsidering though. the main character in this story is very well written and his actions, his conflicts and his resolutions so far have been very believable and as I hit the 6 or 7th chapter, I am hooked. Brad Metzler is doing a wonderful job without over powering the characters or the scenes. I can see why his books were recommended to me and plan on adding more to my reading list. (Funny, I write my blogs in first person… kind of ironic, if you think about it.)

An escape room, on a ship.

I grabbed lunch at the O’Sheehan’s and headed back up to the Deck 9 lounge after. I ran into Michael and Teresa. Knowing I liked games and puzzles, Teresa asked if I was going to the the escape room. I had not heard of it and asked her where she saw it. In the Daily of course. I did not have my copy and neither did they, but my cabin was not far and I told them to watch my seat and I ran (well, not ran ran, but you know what I mean) to get it.

I flipped through it as I was making my way back and still did not find it and handed my copy to Teresa. She flipped it open and scanned it twice before finding it.

She points a finger at it, “Bamboozled, right here”. I read the description and it is indeed an escape type room. Teresa already had plans for the afternoon and she suggested Michael and I go. We agreed. I did tell Teresa that while I had heard of a dice/bluffing game called “Bamboozled”, I had never thought of it as an “escape room” and that’s probably why I missed it.

So Micheal and I head down to “Bliss Ultra Lounge” to sign up. It really is an escape room, with a twist.

The twist is that there are six “identical rooms” and each rrom (or team) can have 6-8 players. Each team is given a puzzle with clues. The clues help the team solve the riddles and open locks on the box. Once a team has opened the box, they have to use the clues they already have and the clues in the box to answer a question and escape. First team to complete this wins.

Micheal and I were teamed up with a family from Canada. My french is WAY rusty, but I tried, much to their amusement. Frankly, I am not sure I would have done better in Spanish either. Still, we all worked well together and gave the game master the last answer ….wrong. We went back and reworked it and tis time, we got it right, and won! Go Team!

Michael wanted to go find Teresa and headed off. I knew a deck chair would be neigh impossible on the upper decks, but on deck 7, I found a free one.

Even though I had not taken a towel to law over it to reserve it, the couple next to me were kind enough to “hold” it the few times I got up to get a drink. Thankful, I brought one back for each of them.

Review: Shokz headphones

Throughout my trip, I used a pair of bone conducting headphones from Shokz. I highly recommend them. They do not cover your ears and the sound quality is outstanding. They are even water/sweat proof and I sweat. I even forgot out them when I went into the pool. Even at full volume, people next to me could not hear them (though I could not hear them well either). At a good volume, they made for a good soundtrack in the background.

The trip was almost over and the sun was setting for the last time for me on ship. It had been relaxing and fun filled, with a few moments of stress to remind me life was still out there.

Sure, boarding was a hassle, but once on board, things went well. I met some wonderful people, Tim and his family from Texas, Teresa and Michael from Grand Rapids, “Mary” and her family from Canada and many other guests with whom I shared stories with.

And some members of the crew stood out for me, Donna who was the waitress in “The Aqua” took good care of me. Simone, from South Africa, shared stories of travel and photography, Ivan (from Montenegro) in Shore Excursions helped when I needed it rearranging some adventures and shared some time while trying to organize the disembarkation of the shore excursions themselves.

Now it was time to pack. Luggage, if you were “checking” it, had to be tagged and outside your cabin my midnight. Tags were color coded and those colors would be called for disembarkation. I thoroughly enjoyed this cruise with one exception, I missed my wife. If I had one wish going forward, it would be that one or more of the cruise lines recognized and invested in research to cure MDDS. I would love to cruise with her again.