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I woke up rested. I checked outside my cabin and my luggage was there. I brought it in and unpacked.
My cabin was in interior one, which was fine for me as a solo traveler. I had all the storage space to myself, including the closet. I unpacked and put everything in its place. An announcement was made that our port stop at Key West was canceled, there was just no time.
Since the cruise started late, the meet and greet from the night before was pushed up for mid morning.
I decided to head up and grab some breakfast at the buffet. The food looked good and was not bad. I a little bland, but I added some salt and pepper and it was much better. Then it was time to really explore the ship. There was several activities planned for the day, and one of the members of the FB group had some banners and stuff as give-aways. I start to make my way up when I run into a young lady I met the night before. To protect her identity, let’s just call her Mary.
Now when we talked the night before, I had been introduced to her as part of a family who was vacationing together. I let them know I was a solo traveler and that my wife could not travel on a cruise with me. Mary was over half my age and I really had no interest (and I did not think I showed any). Still, I bumped into her almost immediately and she started walking with me and chatting. She complimented my shirt, brushed my arm and hand, and in the elevator she put her hand on my lower back. She was flirting with me.
Now I was flattered, but did my best to discourage it. I excused myself a few times and an hour or so later, she was back and flirting again. A few more times, I excused myself. I wanted to head to the reservations desk to set up some dining times.
NCL is all about “Freestyle” cruising, which means no set times to dine. There are two restaurants, “The Venetian” and “The Aqua” which have nice seating and wait staff to fawn over you (and they do). The menu changes daily and no reservations are required. There is also “O’Sheehan’s Bar & Grill”, “Bamboo- A Taste of Asia”, “Bimini Bar”, “Top Siders”, “Garden Café” (the buffet) and more. These meals are complimentary or included in your cruise.
Part of my trip package included 4 dinners at the speciality restaurants. IN these cases, many require reservations and some of them go fast. Orders are ala cart (IE you have to pay for them). I went to the reservation desk and picked three of the four for the week. I chose “La Cucina” (the Italian selection), “Teppanyaki” (think ‘Kobe Steakhouse’ and the theatrics), and “Los Lobos Cantina” (the Mexican restaurant). I got all set and made sure to add them to my “TripIt” app.
So I had my reservations, I wanted to find a quiet place to read. I set out to look for the “Library”. It was supposed to be on deck 12. I walked all around and run into Mary again. I walked around the pool deck with her by my side, asking which excursions I was going on. I avoided the subject, pointing out that ALL the deck chairs were reserved (and towels on them), but there was not that many people on the deck. Seems like “entitlement” is the norm. Mary’s sister and brother come up and (thankfully) pulled her away.
I wander more and not finding the library, I retire to the Atrium and find the third level (9th floor) to be fairly quite. I grabbed a drink, turned on some music, and dove into my first book: “The Assassin’s Betrayal: CIA Assassin (Jason Drake Spy Thriller Book 1)”, by Auston King.
So, I get a several chapters into my book. My drink is long gone and my stomach is telling me it is lunch time. I head up to the “Garden Cafe” (Deck 12) where I grab a bite. As I walk through the door, I am greeting by a crew member who points a spray bottle at me, “Washy Washy!”. This will happen every time I come in, whether I am getting food or just passing through. I extend my hand to get a squirt of some disinfectant and rub both hands vigorously before grabbing a plate and making my selections. It is a buffet, so you can take as much as you want. However, I promised myself I was not going to pig out, that I would be responsible (even weighed myself before I left). I took what I wanted, and even watched the portion sizes. Grabbing a glass of juice (instead of soda), I make my way around through the tables.
Again, I am “solo” and do not want to take up a space for 4 or 6 people. I find a two topper and sit down. A couple I met in line the night before recognize me and they stop for a short chat before going to get their own plates. I pull out my kindle and start the next chapter, but don’t stay long. The chairs just don’t hold much comfort. I check my watch and it is close to Bingo time in the Bliss lounge (Deck 7). I close my Kindle and head down.
Now I like Bingo, so do not take this wrong. NCL advertised in the “daily” that you could win a free cruise, and the first day, they were crowning a “king” and “queen” who would be able to play for free for the rest of the cruise. NCL had three packages/levels you could buy. Everyone had a chance, but the higher pack you bought, the more chances you would get. When you paid, you got two type of raffle tickets, one for the “King/Queen” drawing and the other for the “Free Cruise”.
The three packages were broken done like this, if memory serves. The first gave you three “boards” for the three games that were going to be called that day. You would also get one chance each for “King/Queen” and “Free Cruise”. It had a cost of $29. The mid package gave you six boards (for three games), 1 pull “slots tab”, 2 (or three) “King/Queen” chances, and 6 “free Cruise” chances and had a cost of $49. The big packet got 9 boards, 5 pulls, 6 chances each, and a t-shirt all for $69.
Now the drawing for the free cruise would be held on the last day at sea. This meant that you had to keep all of your tickets each day. It also meant that you had to buy bingo tickets each day to get more chances to win.
I bought the $49 package and then looked for a place to sit down. I figured this was going to take a bit and decided to hit the bar for a drink first. I turned and there was Mary and her dad. I said hi and she told her dad to grab a seat and she’d meet him there. She walked with me to the bar, making small talk with hints of flirting interlaced. She invited me to join them, I declined. I grabbed a high top and pulled out my kindle, thinking I could get another chapter in before the first draw. However, the noise was a bit much.
I heard the staffer selling the tickets tell person after person to “hold onto their tickets”, that “the drawing was on the last sea day”. Then something hit me, math.
I remember sitting in a classroom in high school and hating story problems, but something clicked on and I could not shut it off. If the number of sailing days is 10 and a person (me) spent $49, that would be $490. I guess the part of me that woke up to this calculation was the frugal part. I did not want to spend that much, but it went just a bit further. NCL was giving away a free cruise. Let’s say there were 100 people in “Bliss” that paid the same over the 10 days… that’s $49,000 (and many of the players paid for the more expensive packages). Still, whoever’s ticket was drawn on that last day… NCL made a heck of a profit.
Ok, so even if I only played a few days, I would still have a chance, but I was not going to spend $500 playing Bingo. I looked down, I had that “slot” pull tab still. I proceeded to pull on those and the last tab was a winner. I look at the back… I won $1.
After the Bingo, I went back to my cabin to freshen up. I wanted to change into slacks and a fresh shirt before heading to the dining room. Again this is “Freestyle Cruising” with little rules, but I wanted to be civilized. I ditch the ball cap for my fedora as well and head on out. My cabin is on deck 8 and the restaurants are on deck 6. When I exit the hallway mid-ship near the elevators, the landing seems to be brimming with people. I heard one complaining about how slow the elevators are. Well, it is only two decks, so I excuse myself as I make my way to the stairs and down two decks to “The Aqua”. As requested, I asked for Donn’a section, but am told there would be a 45 minute wait, but they could seat me immediately in another section. I opt for that and am lead to a table.
The service was great as was the food. They even let me order to appetizers. They were smaller than what you get at most American restaurants, so I did not feel bad about my “diet”, plus my entire order was vegetarian (not that it had to be, but they just sounded so good).
After dinner, I stopped by my cabin to grab a game. When I was reading in the Atrium (Deck 9), I saw others playing cards and such. I brought some games, so I thought I would introduce people to maybe something different if they wanted. And, I still had my Kindle if no one wanted to play. There is a stage between deck 7 and 8 in the atrium and the Dawn’s show band was playing.
As I as walking around, the couple I met (Michael and Teresa) were sitting in the corner and wrapping up a game themselves. I stopped and said “hi”. We chatted a bit and I asked if they had ever heard of “No Thanks”. Neither had, but they were willing to try it. So I quickly scanned the set up of the game, shuffled the cards, took out the none cards and proceeds to play. We played a few rounds and they quickly caught on.
My wife, Teresa, had told me that I would make friends on this cruise, it is just how I am. She was not wrong. After a few games, my new friends were tired. They excused themselves and a found a few more people to “entertain”. Soon, though, I called it a night and went back to my cabin.