Our CRUISE- Part 1 {Norwegian Cruise Line}

In November, I was blessed to have awesome guest bloggers help me out while I was on vacation.  The hubby and I went on our first “real” vacation ever – we went on a Carribean cruise with Norwegian Cruise Line!  I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to post these pictures – but better late than never!

We left from New York City (which is the BEST way to leave in my opinion!)  We didn’t have to pay for a flight to our port, and since we took a bus into the city we didn’t have to worry about paying for parking either.  Definitely the thriftiest way to cruise!

We actually left about 10 days after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast – so the port we left from still didn’t have any power!  Norwegian Cruise Line was awesome about it – they did everything they could to make everyone comfortable (in the freezing temps!) and get us on the ship as soon as they could:

We finally made it on the ship – and felt like kids in a candy shop!!  Of course we headed right for the food once we got on board!

While we were waiting to leave – it started SNOWING!  So exciting!  It was so much fun to see the first snow of the season while knowing we were going to be in Caribbean weather in a few days!

We got inside and warmed up in the Spinnaker Lounge (how funky are these loungers??).  There were floor to ceiling windows around the whole room (which was on the top floor) and this became one of our favorite rooms on the ship.

Leaving from New York City is so beautiful, so I was a little disappointed that it was SO incredibly foggy and snowy, that we couldn’t see anything.  I only got one shot as we left from the snowy city:

I’ll be completely honest here: I got pretty sick my first night.  The snow was actually part of a Nor’Easter storm – and the waters were pretty rough.  We went to dinner at the Magenta Dining Room, but I could barely eat anything because I was so nauseous.  I ended up taking Dramamine and going to sleep at 8:00!!  Yikes!

Sea Day #1:

The next morning, we woke up feeling refreshed and excited for vacation.  The weather was still pretty chilly, and there were some amazing clouds from the storm.

We settled ourselves in lounge chairs with some good books, and sat by the very empty pool area.  We even saw a full rainbow!

That night was the first formal night, and we were invited to a VIP event with the captain of the ship!  I completely enjoyed the free cocktails in the exclusive lounge.

I loved getting dressed up every night!  Norwegian Cruise Line is all about “Freestyle Cruising”, which means there are no mandatory dress codes or meal times.  We loved the flexibility of being able to eat whenever and wherever we wanted to.  I also loved that we could dress up every night, but didn’t have to!

Sea Day #2:

We woke up to a beautiful day – temperature was in the 70s and the clouds were beginning to part.  This was my *favorite* – eating breakfast at the very back of the boat every morning – watching the wake of the ship.  There’s just something so freeing about having NO plans for the day, and being able to sip my coffee as long as I wanted to!

We claimed a seat on one of the top decks and spent the day reading and sunning (with SPF of course!):

We spent our nights in the Spinnaker Lounge – Bahama Mamas were my favorite drinks

One of my favorite parts of cruising is being out on the top decks at nighttime.  It’s just so incredible to feel the warm wind and not be able to see *anything*!

Port #1: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Our first port!

We didn’t book an excursion, and decided to just walk the beautiful streets of Old San Juan.  Just check out those beautiful buildings!

We got an awesome view of our ship from the streets:

We were really tired after walking around the town, so we just sat & relaxed in the ship’s lobby for a while and people-watched.  (Does anyone else love this activity as much as I do??)   How fun is the décor in this lobby??

Saying goodbye to our first port…excited for 3 more!

PART 2 POSTED HERE

Part 3 coming shortly!