Bermuda Cruise: From New York to The Sea

Ahoy! 

 We are back on American soil after last week's cruise, and it was so much fun!  I have always been adamant that I would never go on a cruise - partly because I was afraid of getting seasick, partly because I have watched documentaries where terrible things have happened on cruise ships, and partly because I have a *touch* of claustrophobia/agoraphobia where being stuck on a ship makes me very anxious. 

But!  

Since I began working at my current job, I have a coworker who cruises multiple times a year and has slowly assuaged all of my fears through her experiences and tips.  

Also!  

Everytime I try to plan a vacation, even though it's great to get away, I have to assume the role (with Phil's help) of Entertainment Director, Head Chef, House Cleaner...which is not so much of a vacation for the parents.  An all-inclusive vacation was sounding better and better, my anxieties have only gotten better through prayer and exposure therapy, and we decided to use my supplemental income from this semester (teaching online courses) to splurge on a big family vacation.  

We had originally thought we would go next year for our 25th anniversary, but then realized that Maggie would be in college and wouldn't be able to go (we can only go on vacations during our school breaks, not the college breaks and not in the summer because of The Cottage) and we wanted to include her if we could, so we made it happen for this spring break.  I am so glad we did!

We booked a Norwegian cruise from New york to Bermuda on their one-year old ship, the Aqua.  Phil and I had a balcony room, and the kids shared an interior room, which was tight but we really only slept in the rooms so it was fine.  Phil and I woke up on Saturday morning, went to an early spin class at the gym, showered and grabbed everybody to head out to New York.  We had mostly packed the car the night before, and needed to drop off Lucy at the doggy daycare on the way.

We definitely overpacked because the weather looked cool

Lucy seemed to do great at the boarding place (a first for us!) and they posted daily photos on Facebook that we could check on her each day.

Is Lucy the alpha?

She hung out with this cute dog a lot

We arrived in Manhattan around 2pm, parked at our reserved spot at the pier, and headed out to explore the city on foot for a couple hours...

When we had been looking up cruise itineraries, we kept NOT choosing a particular cruise because we realized that we wouldn't be able to attend Mass on Sunday (typically a day at sea).  God provided this perfect cruise that was from Saturday to Saturday of our school vacation week AND it didn't leave port until 10pm at night, which seems unheard of in the cruising world, when ships leave port around 4pm typically.  This gave us time to go to a Saturday Vigil Mass in Manhattan and then catch an uber to the ship and board around 5:30pm.  There were no lines at all going through boarding, which I mentioned to one of the agents who replied "You came at just the right time!  It was chaos in here earlier."  It was a nice little God-wink that we did the right thing :)

Shrine of the Holy Innocents

The 16 minute Uber ride in NY was one of the scariest rides of our lives.  He was a great driver, but dang that New York traffic and people all over the place, with all the honking and aggressive driving was a real NY experience!  We may just walk next time.  

We all checked into our rooms and then went to get dinner:

First meal at The Local

"This is my first pina colada"

Ice cream sundaes "to go" from the nice manager who told me they don't do "to go orders".  Whoops!  I'm new here!

Leaving port at night with all of the city lights and the Statue of Liberty lit up was breathtaking!!

We all slept in the next morning, then Phil, Maggie and I headed to the really nice gym.  Running on a treadmill while the boat was moving was an interesting feeling!  I had to grab onto the sides a few times for balance.

We spent most of the day by the pool deck and ordered all the frozen drinks:

"This is my second pina colada"

My friend who likes to cruise suggested a shoe holder to keep all of our things organized in the room, and it was great!  We got magnet hooks to hang it up.

That reminds me!  

That same friend, whose kids are friends with Declan and Brendan, went on a cruise in February and after they returned, I sent the following text and was shocked to get her reply:

She had taken a cruise to the Bahamas in February, and was going to be on the same cruise to Bermuda with us in April!  I was so happy to have an experienced cruiser with us, friends for our littles, and she was so happy to have our family because it was her first cruise without her husband/parents with her.  What a great surprise for us all!  I had tshirts made for our kids and her kids and we all hung out all week.

These photos were taken in the Observation Lounge where they served cookies and scones every afternoon - such a treat!

Take me back to 3pm snack time

The seas were relatively calm heading to Bermuda.  The littles and I each wore an herbal motion sickness patch behind our ear, and I had prescription patches and zofran in my suitcase just in case, but we never needed them.  None of us got seasick, thanks be to God.

Slainte!

Maggie couldn't get enough Caesar Salad - so crisp!

The boys ate a lot of steak and brisket!

We are typically the eat-at-home family.  If we go out to eat, we are the order-water-and-an-entree-only family, so you can imagine everyone's delight to be able to pick an appetizer, entree, dessert and a drink at each meal!  So many shirley temples were consumed.

Land!  It was so nice to finally see Bermuda on the morning of Day 3.