The SS Norway
Norwegian Cruise Line
March 30th to April 7th, 2001
Eastern Caribbean
Ok, it was my mom (Lydia), my best friend Aubrey and me. We arrived in Miami on Friday, a day early, so we didn't have to worry about missing the boat, literally. Our flights all went well and we met up at the hotel, relaxed and stayed up very late chatting and preparing for the cruise. Saturday, we made it down to the ship around 3pm, it was supposed to sail around 4 or 5pm. It ended up leaving somewhere around 6pm. So we sat in the outdoor restaurant eating lunch, listening to the band, and having a wonderful time watching other cruise ships leave. When we finally set sail, so to speak, it was near sunset and the sky was beautiful. I tried to get some pictures, but the color is never the same. We got to see alot of Miami from the boat, the beaches looked very cool. So, that was how it began........
Ok, I'm on the left and Aubrey's on the right, remember who's who cause I hate repeating myself. This is some of the stuff we did to occupy our time right after leaving port. It's so much fun playing with cameras. SMILE!!
So, mom has this knack of getting me when I'm not ready, cool bikini though huh?
My mommy, now there's a great shot. We asked a nice man nearby to get this shot of us together, turned out pretty good.
While we waited to leave I got a few shots of Miami, and of mom and Aubrey eating lunch. They had the best buffets!!! Oh, they're in the center of the picture, kind of far back. It's like where's waldo......
There were two Royal Caribbean ships that left before us, really big, all the people were out on the decks waving good-bye to whoever, partying and stuff, I kind of wanted to be on the one ship with all the party people, but our ship was cool too!
On our way out I caught the sunset over Miami, the colors were brilliant, the weather was perfect, it was incredible.
Oops, too big, I was trying to make it so you could see the moon, it was cool, it was out all day too, and got fuller throughout the cruise. We had to stop by the internet cafe and play a bit, it was expensive though, but I just had to e-mail my hubby.
These are some of the statues in one of the lounges, they were covered in real quartz crystals.
There was a statue in every corner, I also liked the whole undersea decor in the rest of the room. This is of course the pool, spent some time here, saltwater, but not too cold if it was warm out.
Ok, next day, our first day out at sea on our way to St. Martin. We were having a blast. We had our drinks with the cool cups, lots of sun, shades, I had my new bikini, we were livin' la vida loca. This is Chad and Mike, brothers we met in the nightclub the night before. Aubrey struck up a conversation with them while I was dancing and that was it, we were stuck with them the whole cruise. Only kidding guys, they were very nice, complete gentlemen, very funny and we were glad to have the company. I'm always amazed at how many wonderful people I meet on the cruises I go on.
They kept us laughing and took our minds off some of the small problems we were having with our room, and other minor details. It's hard to get into the spirit sometimes right away, I usually need 2 days before I feel the stress melt away. I like to take candid shots of people, I hate always having set-up shots. This was the sunset the 2nd night.
I was out on the deck by myself taking pictures and this man asks me if I'd like a shot of myself with the sunset, well, I said sure, and posed, smiled, thinking it'll never turn out. So wrong, I love this shot of me. After showering and getting ready, it was 70's night for dinner and we were going to a captain's special welcome party. I put fake tattoos on all of us, we dressed up in our best 70's outfits and head out. These two handsome guys were our next door neighbors, Peter and Michael, they're wearing bowling shirts.
This is at dinner that night, we each had a tattoo on our cheek and somewhere else on our bodies. I think Aubrey looked like quite the flower child. I was cold as usual. I had a butterfly on my cheek and a sun above my belly button, and Aubrey had a butterfly on her cheek and a very cool pair of very sexy eyes on her cleavage.
Mom had a flower on her cheek and a sun on her upper shoulder and a very cool mushroom on her back, you had to see it, it was very cool, you go girl!! And speaking of the room, (?) here's a few shots of our owner's suite, and boy was it sweet!! Aside from our air conditioning not working, and having no balcony, the rest of the room was spectacular, and messy at times too.
We had a mini-fridge, glasses, couch and chairs, desk, 2 tv's, 1 and half bathrooms, shower and jacuzzi tub, bedroom with king size bed, nice cot for Aubrey in the living room, large walk in closet, I could easily live there.
We had floor to ceiling windows on the whole length of the room, we were at the very front, second floor from the top, so we had a nice view of where we were going. At night though, we had to keep the drapes closed if we had the lights on, because the lights caused glare for the guys trying to steer the boat. Whatever!!! Big babies!
This is the 3rd night actually, our 2nd day at sea, first formal night. Boy that's complicated, but we looked smashing, and the curtains in the room added some wonderful color. Strike a pose.......
We didn't do much that day, hung out on the ship, laid out and tanned, got lunch, went shopping, oh, me and Aubrey got a pedicure at the spa, that was fun, you'll hear more about that later. After a day of lazing around, it was nice to get dressed up and look pretty for dinner.
So, that was our first 3 days out at sea, next stop, St. Martin.