It was nice not to be in too much of a hurry today so sleeping in and a leisurely breakfast was how we started our day. After some final packing, we all gathered down in the lobby just before 11:00am to wait for our ride to the ship which Marie had arranged. We got everyone and their luggage into the two vans for the twenty minute ride to the Port of Miami.
When I first saw our ship the Norwegian Bliss, I could not believe how big it was. There are twenty decks for the 4004 passengers and 1735 crew. The ship even has a go kart track and outdoor laser tag. We got dropped off and half of our group went into one terminal while the others went into another. I have to say the check in process went smoothly and fairly quickly. By this time it was about 12:30pm so Paul, Jen, Kris, Becca, Karen and I went to The Local Bar and Grill for the first of many meals.
We headed to the Mandara Spa & Salon after lunch for the guided tour. They offer many services that they tried to sell to you during the tour like manicures, teeth whitening and some service where they can remove one to eight inches of fat. The best of the spa is the area at the back where they have a pool, heated loungers and a Snow Room and a Salt Room.
After the tour, we went to check our room (13310) which is an aft balcony at the very back of the ship. We also then went and check Paul and Jen’s room on the 14th deck. They had originally booked an ocean view room but they were lucky enough to have their upgrade bid accepted and now they had a balcony room.
By this time, we had to go to the Mandatory Life Boat Drill which lasted about half an hour and then was time to go to the Sail Away Celebration. This is the first party of the cruise which is held by the pool. What was nice was that we were all able to meet up here.
When we booked the cruise, we were given a choice of perks. We chose prepaid gratuities and the dining package which gives us the option to dine four times at any of the specialty restaurants. Before we went on the cruise, we precooked our restaurant choices and tonight it was “Q” Texas Smokehouse. There are lots of choices on the menu like ribs, pulled pork and typical sides like BBQ baked beans, cornbread and coleslaw. The food was really good and Karen and I both had too much to eat.
We saw that they had Family Karaoke at The Cavern so we messaged the others to let them know where we were going. I think the Ultimate Beverage Package really helps out the karaoke participants. We had such a good time there that we wanted to keep the party going so we went back to “Q” Texas Smokehouse to enjoy the country sounds of Nashville Junction. There were lots more laughs and even some dancing before the night ended at 11:00pm.
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