Cruises are not for everyone (just ask Miss Kitty’s dad…but that’s a story for another day!). They are crowded, there are lots and lots of stairs, and, if you don’t spend some major upgrade money, they have cabins that are roughly the size of a litterbox. These (and other) reasons are why the Captain has never really gravitated toward them before. As for Miss Kitty, they serve lots of alcohol and have delicious food, so of course she’s down with them.
The Captain started changing his mind when he and Miss Kitty went on a 4-day Carnival cruise a year or so before COVID hit. He had so much fun on this cruise that he was willing to do another one when his sister and brother-in-law suggested a 7-day Norwegian cruise out of San Juan that would hit Aruba, Willemstad, Kralendijk, St. Lucia, and Saint Kitts. Here are the pros and cons of the experience.
Pros:
–The time of year. Cruising to a warm place in February is ALWAYS a good idea—especially when you come from somewhere that is generally in the 20s or 30s (or colder). Each island was in the mid-70s and sunny and it was a great break from winter.
–The staff. Everyone who worked on the ship was incredibly friendly, helpful, and cheerful. I don’t believe we met one staff member who was from the United States and they all had different levels of proficiency with English, but that didn’t affect their level of service in the least.
–The nice restaurants. During our journey, we ate at an Italian restaurant, a sushi restaurant, a hibachi restaurant, a noodle bar, and the main sit-down dining room. All were fantastic with top-notch service, delicious food, and great ambiance. You do need to book the specialty restaurants early, though we found out (too late) that you could often walk in and score a table as many people didn’t show up for their reservations.
–The spa. We booked a spa suite, meaning it was on the same floor as the spa and we could use the amenities like their hot tub, therapy pool, sauna, and aromatherapy steam bath for no extra charge. Unfortunately, we only took advantage of this once on our cruise, but it was really nice!
–The array of things to do. An ice bar, martini tastings, dueling pianos, trivia, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire game, art auctions, Broadway-quality shows, casino tournaments…there was so much to do on this ship. The only way you could get bored is if you were a jackass who doesn’t like to have fun.
–The drinks. There was a wide array of options on the ship, though Miss Kitty was pretty disappointed there were no IPAs. Lots and lots of choices similar to Heineken (likely due to the fact that two of the islands on the itinerary were owned by the Netherlands).
–The casino. Oh, the casino…. While it was only open when the ship was out on the open sea, it was a ton of fun. Low-ish limits, plenty of room to play, and really nice dealers. Everything Miss Kitty and Captain Love enjoy about gambling! Except the Captain lost. A lot. Luckily, Miss Kitty won a lot (including the Texas Hold’em tournament), so it all evened out!
Cons:
–The crowds. The Norwegian Epic, when first built, was the third largest cruise ship in the world and holds 4100 passengers. That’s a lot of people on one boat. If you wanted a drink, you usually had to wait in line for anywhere from 5-15 minutes. If you tried to hit the buffet during peak times, it was a madhouse. If you’re not a people person, a cruise may not be for you.
–The length. Seven days of boozin’, eating your face off, and being around thousands of people was just too much for both the Mr. and the Mrs. This may not be a con for everyone, but both Miss Kitty and the Captain decided that a five-day limit on cruises like these is ideal.
–The app. This thing was a pain in the ass. It worked here and there, which was challenging since it was the only real way to talk to each other on board and book restaurants and shows. Some upgrades definitely need to be made in this arena.
–The booking process. Another huge pain in the ass. The Norwegian website is just as glitchy and unreliable as the app. Miss Kitty tried to upgrade the drink package and book excursions on the site and none of the changes showed in the account and it turned out some of them went through and others didn’t. A bitchy call in to customer service AND a bitchy email to customer service resulted in nothing—not even a reply. Major thumbs down.
–The upgraded drink package. Because she wanted to try some hoity toity drinks and bring bottles of wine back to her room after dinner, Miss Kitty spent that extra $600 to upgrade to the premium drink package. The unlimited drinks was already included (it was part of a booking special) and the upgraded package added little to nothing except for slightly more pricy vodka in Miss Kitty’s cosmo. However, it did provide free Starbucks and boxes of water (yes, boxes), both of which Miss Kitty took advantage of. Still not worth the price, though.
–The itinerary. The islands were all pretty much alike. You’d step out into a shopping area that had all the same stores as the last island and didn’t get to see much unless you had excursions booked. They were also WINDY. Island breeze my ass! Miss Kitty made the mistake of wearing a cute little sundress on one of them and showed the whole of Aruba her butt cheeks.
So there it is! While the trip was enjoyable, it’s not something we’d do again. Our next cruise is a Viking ocean cruise to the Mediterranean (also 7 days, but we anticipate it won’t be the drunkfest that the Norwegian one was, so hopefully we’ll enjoy it more!).
