Ship life...

This will be a post of mainly photos!

I was rather impressed with how smoothly the process of checking in luggage and embarkation went. It was very different to the long, slow moving queues that I saw when DH and I stood with my brother in law and his wife when they went through the process to board a P&O cruise ship in Brisbane. 

The 'red carpet' was out on the deck...

This is Ketut, our cabin attendant ( it may be known as a stateroom in cruise ship lingo but the term cabin suits it more). Aussies would remember those AAMI insurance ads which featured Rhonda and Ketut and I'm sure Australian passengers before us would also have told the 'ship's Ketut' about the ads. He said that he was the 'original Ketut'! 

I stoically tried out the deck chairs on the top deck but despite those glass panels, the wind was freezing!

The pool and hot tub area...

Pool party on the first day...

The girls tried out the pool almost straight away but found it very cold...so they tended to mainly use the hot tub from then on. DsD3 talked her dad into having a swim on the second last day...the pool was heated but the air above and around the pool was chilly!

There were lots of competitions/ games to play on board...

Sometimes we were spectators...

Other times members of the family were contestants. In the next photo the family are playing Trivia...the questions were all about Canadian singers and despite Alannah being Canadian, we only got a few questions correct. But that's okay...our team won an earlier Trivia game. 

Both Alannah and DH's names were drawn out to be contestants on Jeopardy...

DH won 'by a mile'! We were so proud of him. Just shows, his watching of all those quiz programs like Eggheads, Hot Seat, Million Dollar Minute, Pointless, Jeopardy, Chase...has paid off! Lol. I must be patient therefore when he commandeers the TV at home from 3pm until 6pm each week night...although a bucket of bottled beer prize does not really excite me! Lol

DH and DsD3 hit a few golf balls...

On 2 decks there were walking/jogging tracks; despite the cold, a brisk walk around the ship was very enjoyable. In the next photo DH sneaked a photo of me setting off on a walk after lunch one day, without bothering to change my shoes.

I sat around a lot enjoying 'down time' on 'sea days'. 

Sitting in the 'piano bar'

We ate mainly at one of the a la carte restaurants as the Tsar's Palace staff always managed to find us a table...

I did a few things on my own...here are the other 2 ladies who came to the 'knitters' meeting'....

I also went to a Q and A session with the captain and 3 officers. I learned lots of interesting things; the captain was in the Swedish Military for 10 years before starting a new career in the merchant navy and then eventually working for a cruise line. I learned that the ship was able to generate more than enough power needed to run the ship and that there was a desalination plant on board and nearly all the water we used was from treated salt water. There was some fresh water taken on board at ports but nowhere enough that was needed. At that same session, I learned that instead of traditional propellers, the ship was driven by azopods. This made maneuvering the large ship much easier...as the captain commented, with the azopods he was 'able to turn the ship on a dime'. 

 

We saw a few shows in the theatre and also a number of entertainers in venues throughout the ship...

On the Thursday night, many of the crew came on stage at the end of the show in the theatre, so the passengers could show their appreciation.

Seeing all those chefs in the photo reminds me of the session we saw later in the week, when some of the chefs demonstrated how they made decorative items out fruit and vegetables. That was quite amazing to see the items they made. 

And next, dad and daughter taking a spin around the dance floor...

So there you have it...some glimpses of ship life on the Norwegian Jewel. Those of you who have been on cruises would know about the tradition of 'towel folding'... each night when we came back to our cabin after dinner and a show or two, our cabin steward would have arranged a towel animal on the bed...this is what we saw from the doorway on the first night...

And here are some front views...

Another night...

And yet another night...

We had quite a menagerie over the 7 nights, but it was the 2nd last night that we came back to our cabin and just started laughing...it was the night that the show in the theatre consisted of acrobats and trapeze artists...so therefore the towel animal wasn't just sitting on the bed that night...on no...it was swinging from the ceiling!

What fun!