Home away from home

For 12 days, my stateroom 6-252 was my home sweet home.  The first number refers to the deck number, and the cabin was located just a short walk from the aft elevators and stairs.  I also had an option of using the second level access to 2-70 by walking further to the rear of the ship.  I used it often, not only because of the ease of access but because the sharing library was also located there.  

Sorry this photo is a bit dark; I should have closed the drapes first.  The room is not large, the bed takes up a fair bit of room, but there is lots of storage built in around the bed.

The view looking back into the room from the balcony doors.  To the right is the bathroom.  There wasn't a huge amount of space around the bed, but sufficient to move around for one person.

The bathroom, was actually quite spacious.  Lots of storage both in the shelves to the left and below (you can see the extra toilet roll) as well as the counter space.  No drawers but the seas were calm and I never worried about things falling during the night.

To the left of the bed was the hanging clothes storage, with an extra bar that dropped down.  More closet space than most studio cabins.  In this storage unit were two shelves above the safe, and another shelf and two drawers below.  The space in the center held the cubby next to the bed, where I could put my glasses, a water glass, book, and other sundries at night.  (Yes, I could have a water glass...no cats to knock it over!).  The cabinet to the right held the min-fridge, and the drawer contained the provided blow dryer and a box of tissues.  My steward, Bloxer, told me the tissues were moved out of the bathroom because these products can clog up the toilet. I'm not certain why, it was pretty much one ply sand paper but regardless it was a reminder to put it in the bin rather than the toilet.

Across from those cabinets was the mirror (which lit up - small things amuse small minds - I found this very cool!).  Under the little table was a small stool, the only seating other than the bed in the room.  There were a couple of USB slots that allowed me to charge both my phone and Kobo, as well as the outlet.  That is my second camera battery charging in this photo.

But the very best thing about this cabin was the balcony.  Yes it was obstructed but not nearly as much as I had thought it might be.  I was very fortunate in the I had what-ever that smaller boat is in front of me rather than the bigger life boats.  Once I was out on the balcony though, even seated the view was wonderful!

I'm obviously standing at the railing for this photo, and in fact, I don't have any photos taken from the seated position, so you'll have to take my word for it.

I really appreciated having the balcony - generally I can't afford one as a solo so this was a real treat.  The balcony provided a quiet place where I could relax and get away when the ship was busy, or first thing in the morning, when I went out to check on the weather! 

Throughout the entire cruise, I never slept in past 7:30 a.m. and that late was unusual, as most days I was awake between 4:30 and 6:30 every day.  I was okay with that, I'm not a night owl anyway, and best of all I was awake in time for beautiful sunrises like this one on January 8, 2019.  

Speaking of beautiful, the ship was full of art work.  I'll end this post with a few of my favorite pieces.  

 Each of these two pieces were on the landings between the decks.  Each one had a plaque that provided details about the artist and the art work. 

This piece was an image taken from the Empire State building in New York from the artist's perspective.  My favorite, is the dress made by folding a map.  Now that's amazing!

 The installation to the left, was a huge piece that ran several decks high, and could be seen from the glass elevators or from the stairs at the 14th deck, where I took this photo.

Another piece I loved were these 3-D paper flowers.  I'd definitely have this
one in my home if I could.




The most fun one is pictured below...several donuts on a board.  They looked delicious!  These were located on the landing between Deck 10 and 11 on the aft stairwell.  This was about halfway between my stateroom deck and the WJ buffet on 14.  It made a perfect place to catch my breath when I climbed the stairs!

The giraffe was located just off the Sea Plex on Deck 15.  I have no idea why it was there as it didn't seem to have any connection to the area.  But it made an interesting feature on the walk around the deck on the walking/running track.  

The track was a busy place early in the morning, with many passengers getting in their exercise.  There is also a gym on this deck - though I never ventured into it.  

As you can likely tell already, I really enjoyed the ship.  Yes, it was big, but the layout was amazing, the venues were all a decent size, and best of all were the many people I met, not only through the FB and CC groups but also on board.

Best cruise ever!  

Next post - San Juan, Puerto Rico

Getting ready

And here I go again!  Actually this was the first cruise I booked, as my gift to myself as I transitioned into retirement.  The price was right as a solo and for the first time, I'll have a balcony.


Size: 119 sq. ft.; 
Balcony: 55 sq. ft.

This is a photo from a website, but a photo from a passenger suggests that the balcony is just above the tenders and I should expect an obstructed view, as pictured below.  I expect the photo on the website was taken when the tenders were in use. 

Either way, I'll be able to relax on the balcony in the morning with a cup of coffee.  Perhaps even get a photo or two of the sunrise or sunset!

I will find out for certain when I board the ship on Sunday!  It amuses me to think the balcony is half as large as the entire stateroom.  Again, I'll be able to confirm or deny that fact when I get onboard.

I fly out on Saturday morning at o'dark early and arrive in Newark mid-afternoon.  The hotel I'm staying at for the night has a shuttle and is close to the airport, and best of all, provides a shuttle for a small cost to the port the following day.

I'd joined both the cruise critic roll call and the Facebook group for the cruise.  There are several of the FB group staying at the Embassy and we've arranged to meet at Ruby Tuesday's that evening for a pre-cruise dinner.  It will be nice to get to know some people before we even leave!  The entire FB group has been invited to meet shortly after the sailaway as we pass under the Verraszano bridge (at least I think that's the name). The group administrator has created a large FB like sign so we'll be able to find one another.

I believe our meet and mingle is scheduled for the first sea day - there will be an invitation in my cabin - for the Cruise Critic group. I'm especially interested in meeting some of the other solos as RCL doesn't do nearly as good a job as NCL in assisting us, as well as Phyllis and Joe.  The latter are a couple I met through CC and who are also part of the FB group.  They have arranged, and I am joining, a catamaran cruise in Barbados.  So looking forward to that excursion.

I've been to all the ports previously, with the exception of San Juan, Puerto Rico.  I've scheduled a walking tour excursion for this port, and it will be interesting to see if the damage from the hurricane is still visible.  I'm sure all of those paper towels were a great help...or maybe not.

St. Maarten was also damaged by the hurricane and I'm aware that Maho Beach will not look the same as it did a couple of years ago. I'm still planning to take a cab to watch the planes land over the beach...though how much beach is left, I'm not certain.  

I was in Antigua last year and probably won't disembark.  The only thing I've not seen there are the flamingos, but I've seen flamingos before.  St. Lucia will be a beach day; I've already seen there are others interested in spending the day at my favorite beach, Reduit.  St. Kitts is still an unknown, while I've been there previously, it has been awhile and none of the ship's excursions truly interest me.  There are black sand beaches on St. Kitt's so perhaps I'll get a chance to visit one of those.

I'll be flying back on the 18th, arriving late at night...probably early the next morning if history repeats itself.  As with NCL, I won't have access to internet so will catch up when I return.  See you all then!