Things I didn't hate on my cruise
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I didn’t hate everything
The Norwegian cruise that I previously wrote about was not all bad. I encountered some interesting people. There were some amenities on the cruise that weren’t too bad.
The Shore Excursions
Whenever you're on a water hotel, the excursions make you get outside the ship and see a small and slightly curated world.
Yes, I’m going to continue calling it a water hotel because that’s what it is— a hotel on water. Since this was a 7 day cruise I won’t break down every experience that I had but I will give some highlights about where I visited.
Puerto Plata, known as San Felipe de Puerto Plata. According to the daily sheet we got, it’s the third largest city in the Dominican Republic and I’m glad I got to wander through the port while my family went on a separate excursion. Riding the Skytram to the top of the hill, let me see the shoreline. The view from the top was gorgeous right before sunset.
All the shops seemed to be pretty empty though, which leads me to believe the economy is hitting them pretty hard. Along the way we went to shore at St. Thomas, Tortola and Stirrup Cay which has a privately owned beach.
Wash and Fold Laundry
They had a wash and fold laundry service. It was a bit old school that I had to itemize it but it was better than losing a shirt, I suppose. It’s also always worth having clean clothes before ending the trip and heading home.
My laundry was returned to me in a basket covered in wrapping tissue paper. This was probably the oddest and somehow most endearing gesture of a service I’ve ever encountered.
Casino, arcade and other onboard entertainment
There were a number of shows, raffles and arcade games that sounded entertaining but I didn’t get to experience. Each day we received a printed schedule with all the days activities, which were filled with reminders about weight loss and The “sports complex” was in the arcade, which I didn’t see many kids in.
The health seminars in the spa. There were nightly game shows including “Burn the Floor”, a dancing show, Howl at the Moon dueling pianos, and “Deal or No Deal” with a jackpot.
The casino had it’s own video games where I probably lost more than I want to admit but it kept me entertained while I had a conversation with someone on the ship.
Most of the time I found that the games onboard were all geared toward purchasing something like watches, perfumes and souvenirs including a charm bracelet that was a giveaway prize.
Bar Service package
While this seems like it should be standard inclusive for cruises, it’s not. It does require an additional fee for unlimited bar service.
The brochure says there were 22 bars and lounges onboard but I really only could remember visiting 4 or 5 of them. I was looking forward to trying out the Ice Lounge but it was closed the time I attempted to go. I did spend a lot of time on the aft deck attempting to sleep after getting a drink at the bar. Sitting outside with a drink was far more interesting than wandering around the ship aimlessly.
If you’re going to be on a water hotel, having access to the bar and getting a drink should be easy. Having the beverage package, makes it easier to keep track of what was spent because it’s already spent.
You don’t have to worry about how much it’s going to cost when it’s already been paid for in advance.