My uber-Last-Minute Solo Bermuda Cruise! About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

Great updates Tracy! How cool to sail by the Statue of Liberty!

[elbodans]

Originally Posted by MelissaSue

When you say you slept the "wrong way" on the bed, do you mean you slept with your head at the foot? Or that you slept across the bed, short-ways?

i slept across the bed, 'short-ways'--though it wasn't actually 'short', as a king size bed is wider than it is long. i needed to be lying WITH the length of the ship as opposed to ACROSS the ship. the rocking worked better that way.

and i have to admit--at one point the ship WAS rocking so much that i 'got air'. seriously--like tower of terror-ish.

[elbodans]

Day 2—First Day at Sea...and so much FOOD!

I was at breakfast by 7:30 on the first sea day—and was one of the only people at breakfast at that time. I had eggs benedict (which was only ok—it had a funny sour quality), a roasted tomato (very good), two little bitty hash browns (also very good, particularly covered in the bernaise sauce from the eggs) and a mini chocolate croissant (So. Freaking. Good.) I think tomorrow I’ll have a pile of chocolate croissants. Perhaps I’ll fill a bowl with them and cover them in milk. (POST CRUISE NOTE: I had at least one chocolate croissant every single morning for the entire cruise.) Sorry—no pics of breakfast. My fork is faster than my brain that early in the morning!

Because it was still REALLY early in the morning, I headed over to my favorite room on the whole ship—Spinnaker lounge—and switched back and forth between watching the ocean and reading my book. I discovered that it was somehow magically possible to download a book to my kindle even on board a ship in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean (yay!) which was good, as I’d started a preview version of a book and really wanted to continue reading it.

And then it was time for trivia! I joined my new cruise friends and added yet another—a woman named Anne who was also sailing alone (I was so glad to find that I’m not the only one doing so!) Yet again, we won (we only got one question wrong…and barely wrong, too!) After trivia it was time for the Cruise Critic social—and I honestly tried to mingle. I think that Bliss is a really awkward place to have a meet and greet. Who wants to meet new people whilst trying to sit on a giant velvet covered canopy bed? Not I—and not anyone else, it seemed. While Bliss Lounge is visually interesting, it’s just not that practical (as I discovered again during karaoke.)

Honestly, I wasn’t even really that hungry by this point—after all, I didn’t really do much (and I never made it to the gym…) but again it was time for lunch! The four of us all dined together, this time in the main dining room. The sea was REALLY rough at this point and I felt like a buffet would be a scary, dangerous experience. I had the shrimp and salmon salad sandwich, which wasn’t bad. It wasn’t great, either.



I was about to write something like ‘I think I’ll stick to the buffet for lunch’, but I realized that would be incorrect. I’m going to a ‘Best of’ lunch tomorrow in Le Bistro and to a Murder Mystery lunch on Saturday with the ladies…and the other three days I’ll be in Bermuda during the day. Huh. Guess I won’t be eating lunch at the buffet again!

(POST CRUISE NOTE: For dessert, I started what ended up being a trend--ordering Panna Cotta for dinner. They had it almost everywhere--in different incarnation. So I won't post the pic now--I'll do a 'Panna Cotta Parade' at the end!)

After a much-needed nap, I reported to Spinnaker for Name That Tune—which super sucked, as the theme was ‘TV theme songs you’ve never heard’. Ok, I added the ‘that you’ve never heard’ part. But seriously—I’m kind of proud that I didn’t know these theme songs. It just means that I don’t waste my life watching crappy TV. But I did get the Deadwood theme song correct!

At some point while I was either sleeping or naming a tune, the sun came out—so I found a deck chair and once again curled up with my book…until 4:00. Because at 4:00 there was a martini tasting. Please note: this is a BAD idea. You basically drink the equivalent of a full cup of vodka in about 40 minutes time. Yeah...I didn’t do that again (though I think it was offered two more times during the cruise!)

The martini tasting was also a little to crowded and, well, loud. It seemed as though a bunch of already really drunk people came here to get already really drunker. (POST CRUISE NOTE: If you want to drink and actually LEARN something, go to the wine tasting. That was much more civilized!) But at least the entertainment was good...



You should note that this was also a REALLY rough day at sea. That makes the above all the more impressive!

After a moderately-drunken game of trivia (I don’t remember if we won or not!) it was time for our reservation at Tequilas. I found the location to be a bit odd—in the middle of the ship on deck 8, kind of overlooking the Atrium. Because of this, it took me a while to find the place (or was that still due to the martini tasting?) but eventually I was seated with my new friends at a table four four. Dinner was quite good, though I ordered a bit poorly for my entrée. It seems like you get a lot of food at the specialty restaurants—an appetizer, a salad, an entrée and dessert. The appetizer at Tequilas was one of the best I enjoyed on the ship—a chili crusted tuna served over ‘creamy gazpacho’.



For my salad, I wisely chose the Tostada salad which came served in a fried tortilla bowl and topped with THE BEST BEEF EVER. I’m not a huge fan of red meat (as you will notice from my meal selections) but seriously—this steak was good. I determined that it must have been marinated in angel tears.



Based on other recommendations, I ordered the lobster tacos. Here’s where I made the mistake—I chose to have them served in a hard taco shell, not a soft taco shell. Because the filling was rather creamy—more like a lobster Newburg—it didn’t really ‘go’ with the texture of the tortilla. So, for other people’s reference—order the lobster tacos, but get them in a soft tortilla.



We also enjoyed our ‘free’ margaritas (that I don’t think contained any actual alcohol) and a pitcher of Sangria. While this was a rather ‘rough’ day at sea, I didn’t really notice!

The other thing about specialty restaurants is that the pace is rather slow—which I appreciate. I like to take time to enjoy my meals—especially when I have fun friends to chat with (though I’d still do a specialty restaurant solo—I’d just take my pal The Kindle!) It was almost 9:00 by the time we finished eating, so after dinner I headed to Bliss to watch drunk people sing karaoke. There were only two problems with this plan—problem number one was that the people singing were actually quite good! One guy got up and sang ‘My Sacrifice’, and due to the fact that I don’t actually know what the lead singer of Creed looks like, I’m going to have to say that he was on board the Gem and singing karaoke. The other problem was my seat—which was actually a foot stool. Bliss is super not set up for solo travelers—and I wasn’t drunk enough to go plop myself down in a large group of people—so I ended up balanced awkwardly on a foot stool at the edge of one of the creepy velvet beds. Needless to say, I didn’t stay very long—but that was probably good, because I really needed to get some sleep.

POST CRUISE NOTE: I heard people saying that our first day at sea was ‘the roughest they’d ever experienced in XX number of cruises’. If that’s the case, then I’m good. I thought it was kind of fun. Though I was taking Bonine every 12 hours…just in case. I don’t know if I’d have been sick without it—but why find out, right?

[KMB733]

Rough seas is one thing that keeps me from cruising. But sounds like you didn't even experience it. Maybe it was all those drunk people talking!! Dinner looked really good

[disney_duke]

Glad you survived the first day, especially with rough seas. Sounds like they had plenty of activities to keep you occupied! I'm quite impressed with the food so far - yum!

I know what you mean about sleeping the wrong way! I tried that one night too when we had rough seas, but my DH found it strange. So we went back to sleeping the proper way but with the rocking motion not in our favor. Oh well.

[elbodans]

Originally Posted by KMB733

Rough seas is one thing that keeps me from cruising. But sounds like you didn't even experience it. Maybe it was all those drunk people talking!! Dinner looked really good

oh, i experienced it! you'll note that in a reply to melissa sue (above) i likened 'laying in bed' to 'riding on tower of terror'--like the bed (and, i suppose, the ship) dropped faster than i did. but i thought it was more fun than anything--and i credit the bonine with the fact that i never once felt ill. if THAT'S what you mean by 'i didn't experience it', then you're right. though i have to say that i actually felt ill my first day home. i felt like i was still moving and thus was getting motion sickness on solid ground!

Originally Posted by disney_duke

Glad you survived the first day, especially with rough seas. Sounds like they had plenty of activities to keep you occupied! I'm quite impressed with the food so far - yum!

I know what you mean about sleeping the wrong way! I tried that one night too when we had rough seas, but my DH found it strange. So we went back to sleeping the proper way but with the rocking motion not in our favor. Oh well.

i guess that's just another benefit of traveling solo--no one was there to tell me i was sleeping 'the wrong way'!

and yes, there were so many onboard activities it was literally overwhelming. fortunately i took my trusty highlighter along and read through the NCL daily each night, highlighting the things i wanted to do the next day. OCD saves the day again!

[cubfancolleen]

Sounds like a fun day! I've never thought of cruising alone, but you are making it sound great!
Dinner looked really yummy.

[elbodans]

Originally Posted by cubfancolleen

Sounds like a fun day! I've never thought of cruising alone, but you are making it sound great!
Dinner looked really yummy.

yeah--cruising alone is kind of amazing. i had no idea. i was originally just going because it was a cheap way to get to bermuda--but i ended up LOVING the cruise (of course, bermuda was the best part!) i'm currently working a guest blog post on this very topic for a solo travel site--when it is up i will link it here.

[Coop]

I was wondering if the rocking while asleep was side to side or top to bottom. I think side to side would be easier. Thus you changed sleeping direction. Sounds like fun though. Loving your pictures.

[elbodans]

Originally Posted by Coop

I was wondering if the rocking while asleep was side to side or top to bottom. I think side to side would be easier. Thus you changed sleeping direction. Sounds like fun though. Loving your pictures.

thank you for understanding! knowing that someone understands makes me feel less insane!

[Coop]

You're not insane - Or I am. Mwahahahaha.

[chezp]

Glad you survived your rough day at sea - it looks like you made the best of it!

[Colexis Mom]

Glad you were able to survive the rough seas! More please!

[WishIwasinDisney]

I am loving your report. Sounds like you are having a wonderful time. Can't wait to read more!

[elbodans]

thanks everyone! i have a pretty busy day today (well, relative to how my days usually are) so probably no post until tomorrow (plus i only have notes from day two--not a fully written report--so it will take actual effort!)

thanks for reading--i'll post more asap!